Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann is turning 50 today, October 17. The dynamic leader has been talented not only in his leadership skills but is also very talented as a comedian, singer and actor. He belongs to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and joined the political party in 2014.Before venturing into the world of politics he was known for his skills as a comedian and had also competed in the reality show The Great Indian Laughter Challenge against fellow comedian Kapil Sharma.On the 50th birthday of one of the youngest Chief Ministers of India, let us look back at the dynamic leaders life journey till now.Personal lifeBorn to a Jatt Sikh family in Punjab, Bhagwant Mann was born in a Jatt Sikh family in 1973 to father Mohinder Singh and mother Harpal Kaur in Satoj village of Sunam tehsil in Punjab. He completed his first year of a Bachelor of Commerce course at Shaheed Udham Singh Government College, Sunam.He was married to Smt. Inderpreet Kaur with whom he has two children. However, the couple separated in 2015, following which married Dr Gurpreet Kaur in a private ceremony in Chandigarh on July 7. 2022.Like many Indian parents, Bhagwant Manns father wanted his son son to finish college and get a good government job, settle down and lead a normal comfortable life. But Mann continued to sit in the stable of his house practising singing, writing jokes, and dreaming of being a performer.Bhagwant Mann: Comedy, Film carrerBhagwant Mann has been a known figure in the comedy world for his skills as a comedian. He participated in many comedy festivals and won many medals. According to media reports, Mann also won two gold medals in a competition at the Punjabi University, Patiala, for the Shaheed Udham Singh Government College, Sunam. Mann, s breakthrough in the world of showbiz came when he was only 19 years old. In 1992, he caught the eyes of Jarnail Ghuman, a music producer in Ludhiana with a song that Mann had parodied. Ghuman then asked him to put together an album of similar satirical tracks and took the youngster to Ludhiana to record a cassette called Kulfi Garma Garam, which parodied popular Punjabi songs.Karamjit Anmol a well-known singer, actor and producer in Punjabi cinema who used to participate with Mann in college fest said that Kulfi Garma Garam was an immeidate success and sold fifty lakh copies in India. After Manns fame as a singer grew its reach, he was invited to stand-up shows across India by 1994. Belong he also started to perform in the UK, US, and Canada and was often accompanied by Karamjit Anmol and comedian Binnu Dhillon on his tours. Nicknamed Jugnu (firefly), Mann debuted his comedy career with Jagtar Jaggi in the 1990s. The two formed a comedy duo and made a TV programme known as Jugnu Kehnda Hai for Alpha ETC Punjabi. After a good run together for a decade the duo separated with Jaggui claiming that he was not given enough credit. He used to make many fun satirical comedy routines on issues including politics, business and sports.He also went on to act in TV programmes such as Jugnu Mast Hai and and Jugnu Haazir Hai later on in life.Manns comedy made it to the national platform when he participated in the comedy reality show, The Great Indian Laughter Challenge and competed against fellow comedian Kapil Show with current Punjab Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu as one of the judges.Bhagwant Mann in politics.The 17th Chief Minister of Punjab, Bhagwant Mann joined politics in 2011 as a member of the Peoples Party of Punjab and unsuccessfully contested assembly elections in the Lehra constituency in 2012. he later joined the Aam Aadmi Party in 2014 following which he was elected to the Lok Sabha twice in 2014 and 2019 from Sangrur.In 2022 Mann was elected as one of the youngest Chief Ministers of Punjab and garnered 82,592 votes in Dhuri, nearly 60,000 more than Congress Dalvir Singh Goldy (24,386). According to the Election Commission (EC) data, Mann received 64.29 per cent of the votes.This win took AAP to the national platform and won 92 seats in the 117-member Assembly in Punjab while the ruling Congress won 18 seats, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) bagged three seats and the BJP won two seats.Apart from this, the comedian turned Chief Minister of Punjab successfully runs an NGO, Lok Lehar Foundation, to help children with physical deformities from groundwater pollution along Punjabs border.
