“Imaandar CM”, “Lokan da CM”, “AAP da ikko naara, Bhagwant Mann dobara.” (Honest CM, people’s CM; AAP has one slogan, Bhagwant Mann for the second time).As you drive down from Chandigarh to Jalandhar and then on to Kapurthala, a beaming Mann, the Punjab Chief Minister, is your constant companion, looking down at you from billboards in his trademark yellow turban. This is a far cry from late 2021, when Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convenor Arvind Kejriwal dominated the hoardings in Punjab, with Mann emerging later after a phone poll — “Janta chunegi apna CM” (People will choose their CM) — saw him handpicked for the top post with 93% of the votes.AdvertisementWhile other parties, except the Shiromani Akali Dal led by the Badals, remain largely non-committal about their CM face, the AAP, which swept the 2022 Assembly polls by winning 92 of 117 seats, is clearly making Mann its mascot for 2027. For a couple of months now, the CM has been hitting the road almost every day with his “lok milnis” (public meetings), especially after the Akal Takht, the highest temporal seat of Sikhs, declared him a “Guru Dokhi” (betrayer of the Guru) on June 15 over a controversial video.The Opposition had thought the edict would turn him into a social outcast of sorts. But Mann has remained constantly in the public eye, criss-crossing the length and breadth of the state almost every day, except for a short break in early July when he travelled to Bengaluru for what aides described as his annual wellness programme.His message changes with the audience but has two constants: 300 units of free electricity a month, presented on billboards and in speeches as 600 units since bills are typically bi-monthly, and the “satkar” payments to women beneficiaries under the Maawan-Dheeyan Satkar Yojana that began on July 1. There is also a mandatory warning: “If you vote for other parties, all this will stop.”AdvertisementFocusing on the women who have now received money for six months under the scheme, which provides Rs 1,500 a month to eligible Dalit women and Rs 1,000 to others — with the first transfers made for three months on July 1 and the second on October 1 — Mann has declared he will never let this “toon-toon” (sound of mobile notification about money coming in) stop. “Kehnde Bhagwant Mann aurtan nu paise de ke sir charha reha hai … toon-toon chaldi rahegi, band nahin hon devanga.” (They say I am spoiling women with money… this will carry on, it won’t stop).Potshots at OppositionHis other favourite pitch, especially in the countryside, is the increased access to canal water under his regime, from 26% in 2022 to 86% now, and the Rs 10 lakh health insurance for all. Many billboards relay the same message, with the tagline, “Jo keeta so kar ke dikhaya.” (He delivered what he promised).But it is his potshots at the Opposition that deliver the real sting: disparaging messages cloaked in laughter. Commenting on the elevation of former India hockey captain and three-time Jalandhar Cantonment MLA Pargat Singh as Punjab Congress president on October 2, he quipped: “Main unhan nu hamesha ‘Captain Sahib’ kehnda haan… umeed hai unhan di team vi unhan nu gend pass karegi, kyonki pass ton bina goal nahin ho sakda (I always call him Captain Sahib, I hope his team will pass the ball to him so that he can score).”Another favourite quip is: “Congress vich workers nalon vadh CM umeedwar han. (Congress has more CM hopefuls than workers).” At another place, he says: “Remember the five-point programme of Congress and Akalis: Me, my son, my nephew, my brother-in-law and my sister’s husband.” And he almost always ends on a cautionary note: “Virodhi parties 2027 ton pehlan paise vi vand sakdian han. Paise le lao, par vote AAP nu pao.” (The Opposition parties could woo you with money, take it but vote for AAP).The unrelenting flow of drugs is one issue where the Opposition, led by the BJP, is on the offensive. But here too, Mann plays on the front foot, reminding voters that the problem intensified during the earlier Akali Dal-BJP government and that the BJP at the Centre is responsible for manning the over-500-km international border with Pakistan, one of the routes for drug trafficking in the region.Political observers see in the billboards an AAP effort to counter the increasingly loud charge that the party is run by proxy from Delhi by Kejriwal. The billboards not only show a CM in charge but underline two things that the AAP wants voters to associate with Mann: his people connect and his clean image.The flip sideThe strategy, however, carries a flip side. The more AAP personalises the campaign around Mann, the more its achievements and failures are also his.His image came under fire recently following Enforcement Directorate allegations against his Officer on Special Duty (OSD) and others, involving claims of influence over transfers, postings, and other matters. On October 5, the Punjab and Haryana High Court ordered a CBI probe into the allegations. The Punjab government has now challenged the order in the Supreme Court.you may likeCongress leader Partap Singh Bajwa, the Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly, said Mann can’t escape blame. “How is it that he was ignorant of what was transpiring in his office? The AAP government tom-toms him as an ‘imaandaar’ CM. If he was so honest, why did the High Court order a CBI probe ?” Punjab BJP state president Kewal Singh Dhillon went a step further and sought the CM’s resignation.People in the hinterland are generally keeping an open mind. Ajaib Singh, a resident of Bagrian village in Kapurthala, who retired as a sub-inspector from the Punjab Police four months ago, says one can’t say anything unless there is unassailable proof. Gurcharan Singh, a retired soldier at Bariar village, agrees. “Allegations and counter-allegations are part of politics, all empty without verifiable proof.”For now, though, Mann continues to do what he does best: meet people with a script that he improvises on the spot to connect with them.