Bhagwant Mann strips122 leaders of security cover in Punjab

The Punjab Chief Minister-elect Bhagwant Mann issued orders to withdraw security of 122 former MPs, MLAs in the state. According to the order issued on Saturday, except for the Badal family, who have been given security on the instructions of the Union Home Ministry and former CMs like Captain Amarinder Singh and Charanjit Singh Channi, the security of all other Congress and Akali Dal leaders has been lifted. "On one hand, police stations are lying vacant, while on the other, security has been given to the leaders by setting up tents in front of their houses. We will take the load off the police. The safety of three and a half crore people is more important, said Bhagwant Mann.

Bhagwant Mann met with the Punjab governor on Saturday to stake claim to form the next government. Mann said that his swearing in ceremony will be held at the native village of Bhagat Singh, Khatkar Kalan, at 12.30pm on March 16. AAP won 92 seats in the 117-member Punjab Assembly. It decimated the Congress and the SAD-BSP combine and its candidates defeated several stalwarts, including the outgoing chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi, SAD patriarch Parkash Singh Badal and former chief minister Amarinder Singh.