Punjab’s main Opposition Aam Aadmi Party on Tuesday named its Sangrur MP Bhagwant Mann as its chief ministerial candidate in the upcoming polls.

Party leader and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal announced the candidature of comedian-turned-politician Mann in Mohali after a telephone opinion poll.

As soon as 48-year-old Mann’s name was announced, he faced a barrage of memes from political opponents poking fun at his alleged drunk incidents.

The Congress has not named its chief ministerial candidate. Incumbent Charanjit Singh Channi and state party boss Navjot Sidhu are seen as frontrunners.

Kejriwal said: “Had I declared Bhagwant Mann as AAP’s CM candidate at my own discretion, it would not have been anything less than the nepotism practised by the older parties. We threw the opportunity open to 3 crore people of Punjab; we asked them to cast votes for our CM face on a phone line.”

Kejriwal said 93.3 per cent of the 21.59 lakh responses were in Mann’s favour. He did not reveal the names of candidates who garnered the remaining votes.

In the past, Mann’s supporters had raised slogans in his favour during Kejriwal’s meetings in the state. Naming Mann takes the wind out of rumours that Kejriwal would impose a candidate from Delhi.

However, Mann’s opponents raked up complaints about him allegedly turning up drunk in Parliament and his shenanigans in rallies and public events.

In 2019, Mann had in a rally sworn that he would never drink again— a fact that was widely publicised by the party then.

Mann on Monday said: “People used to laugh when they saw my face when I was a comedian. I had never imagined such a significant change in my life. When I go to public meetings now, people come up to me, cry and narrate their problems about their children getting into bad company and how they need to be protected.”

What worked for Mann was his ability to retain his Lok Sabha seat in 2019, which is the only seat the party has in the House.

Like Italian comedian-politician Beppe Grillo, Mann is seen by voters as someone outside the power circuit who challenges the system.

AAP sources said Mann would retain some of the party’s votes that it could lose to the new farmers’ party Sanyukt Samaj Morcha.