Punjab assembly election: The decision was announced days after the Aam Aadmi Party opened telephone lines for people of Punjab to suggest names for their preferred chief ministerial candidate.

The Aam Aadmi Party on Tuesday announced Bhagwant Mann as its chief ministerial candidate ahead of the Punjab Assembly elections scheduled in February. The decision was announced days after the party opened telephone lines for people of Punjab to suggest names for their preferred chief ministerial candidate.

AAP received around 22 lakh responses under its campaign to elect its CM face for the assembly polls.

Addressing the event, AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal said that an overwhelming majority of responses favoured Mann as the party's chief ministerial candidate, while some also put his name forward as the CM face for Punjab elections. About 3 per cent of respondents named Punjab Congress unit chief Navjot Singh Sidhu as AAP's chief ministerial candidate, Kejriwal added.

Kejriwal said last week that he wanted the party’s state unit chief Bhagwant Mann as its CM face for Punjab elections, the Sangrur MP insisted that the decision should be left on people.

In the 2017 Punjab assembly elections, the Aam Aadmi Party went into the polls without declaring a chief ministerial candidate but failed to form a government. It won 20 seats and became the principal opposition in the state. This time, AAP national convener assured the voters from early days that the party will announce its CM face ahead of the polls.

Meanwhile, Congress has apparently backed Punjab chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi as its CM face amid intense speculations. In a video by the official Twitter handle of Congress, actor‌ ‌Sonu‌ ‌Sood‌ ‌says‌ ‌the‌ ‌"real‌ ‌chief‌ ‌ minister‌ ‌is‌ ‌the‌ ‌one‌ ‌who‌ ‌does‌ ‌not‌ ‌have‌ ‌to‌ ‌tell‌ ‌he‌ ‌is‌ ‌the‌ ‌chief‌ ‌ministerial‌ ‌candidate".‌ ‌Sood’s‌ ‌remark‌ ‌was‌ ‌followed‌ ‌by‌ ‌several‌ ‌clips‌ ‌of‌ ‌Channi‌ ‌taking‌ ‌part‌ ‌in‌ ‌various‌ ‌events.‌