Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday, October 17, extended birthday greetings to Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, wishing him a long and healthy life. The message was shared on social media platform X.
“Birthday greetings to Punjab Chief Minister Shri Bhagwant Mann Ji. Praying for his long and healthy life,” the Prime Minister wrote.
Born on October 17, 1973, in Satoj village in Punjab’s Sangrur district, Bhagwant Mann comes from a family of schoolteachers. He studied commerce at Shaheed Udham Singh Government College and entered the entertainment industry at the age of 18.
Mann gained recognition as a comedian and actor through television programmes such as Jugnu Kehnda Hai and Jugnu Mast Mast. His popularity grew after he participated in The Great Indian Laughter Challenge on Star Plus in 2008.
He also appeared in the National Award-winning Punjabi film Main Maa Punjab Dee. His performances frequently featured social and political satire.
Mann began his political journey with the People’s Party of Punjab, founded by Manpreet Singh Badal. He contested his first Assembly election in 2012 from the Lehra constituency but lost to former Chief Minister Rajinder Kaur Bhattal.
He later joined the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) at the invitation of party national convener Arvind Kejriwal.
In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, Mann won the Sangrur parliamentary seat, defeating Shiromani Akali Dal leader Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa. He retained the seat in the 2019 general election, becoming AAP’s only Member of Parliament from Punjab at the time.
Mann emerged as one of AAP’s prominent leaders in Punjab. In 2018, he resigned as the party’s state president after Kejriwal apologised to Akali Dal leader Bikram Singh Majithia in a defamation case. Mann returned to the position the following year.
In the 2022 Punjab Assembly elections, Mann led AAP to a decisive victory. He contested from the Dhuri constituency and won by a margin of more than 58,000 votes.
He was sworn in as Punjab Chief Minister on March 16, 2022.
