AAP's Bhagwant Mann to stake claim on Saturday to form govt in Punjab

Punjab chief minister-designate Bhagwant Mann will meet Governor Banwarilal Purohit on Saturday to stake claim to form the government in the state.

Mann was elected as the AAP Legislature Party leader at a meeting of the party MLAs in Mohali on Friday.

"A meeting of the legislature group was held today. We have formally elected Bhagwant Mann as our leader," Aam Aadmi Party leader Aman Arora said here.

He said Mann will meet the governor on Saturday to stake claim to form the government.

Mann will take oath as the chief minister of Punjab on March 16 at Khatkar Kalan, the ancestral village of legendary freedom fighter Bhagat Singh, in Nawanshahr district.

Names of several MLAs, including Harpal Singh Cheema, Aman Arora, Baljinder Kaur, Saravjit Kaur Manuke, Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer, Budh Ram, Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh, Jeevanjyot Kaur and Dr Charanjit Singh, are doing the rounds for ministerial positions.

Cheema, the Leader of Opposition in the outgoing Legislative Assembly, was elected from the Dirba seat for the second time. Arora was re-elected from the Sunam seat.

Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh, a former IPS officer; Jeevanjyot Kaur, a social activist; and Dr Charanjit Singh, an eye surgeon, were elected for the first time.

Mann has invited AAP national convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for his swearing-in ceremony.

On Sunday, both Mann and Kejriwal will pay obeisance at the Golden Temple, Durgiana Mandir and Sri Ram Tirath Mandir.

They will take part in a roadshow in Amritsar to celebrate the AAP's victory and thank voters, a party statement said.

Earlier in the day, Mann had met Kejriwal in Delhi.

Punjab Governor Banwarilal Purohit dissolved the 15th Vidhan Sabha, an official spokesperson said here.

The move came after Charanjit Singh Channi submitted his resignation as the chief minister to Purohit.

The AAP romped home by winning 92 seats in the 117-member Punjab Assembly. It decimated the Congress and the SAD-BSP combine and its candidates defeated several stalwarts, including Channi, SAD patriarch Parkash Singh Badal and former chief minister Amarinder Singh.