‘Three Pens, One Choice’: Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann Declares 2027 Battle Lines in Jaito, Unveils ₹28.68 Crore Development Push
AAP chief invokes Bhagat Singh’s legacy, targets Akali Dal over Jallianwala Bagh ‘betrayal’ and announces landmark anti-sacrilege law with life imprisonment as he frames Punjab’s next election as a referendum on governance versus dynasty
Faridkot, April 5, 2026
Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann on Sunday turned a development rally in Jaito into a full-throated political offensive, unveiling projects worth ₹28.68 crore while firing sharp salvos at the Congress, Akali Dal and BJP — framing the 2027 Punjab assembly election as a three-way moral choice that he said only the Aam Aadmi Party can win.
“People will have three pens to choose from in 2027,” Mann declared before a large gathering in Faridkot’s Jaito. “The Congress pen is stained with the blood of anti-Sikh riots. The Akali pen has no ink — it ran dry after years of sacrilege and plunder. The third pen is ours, and it is building Rangla Punjab.”
DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS UNVEILED
The Chief Minister laid the foundation stones of several infrastructure projects, headlined by the upgradation of Jaito’s Community Health Centre into a fully functional 30-bed hospital at a cost of ₹8 crore. A drinking water pipeline worth ₹3.01 crore will supply clean water to 1,200 households, and a new sports stadium will be constructed at a cost of ₹2 crore, rounding out the day’s announcements.
Mann framed the investments as proof that AAP was delivering on its promise to return the public’s tax money through visible, on-the-ground change. “Every penny of the state exchequer is being used for public welfare,” he said. “Previous governments played musical chairs and plundered the state. People voted for change, and that change is now visible in schools, hospitals and roads.”
THE ANTI-SACRILEGE LAW: LIFE IMPRISONMENT, NO BAIL FOR A YEAR
In one of the rally’s most significant political announcements, Mann confirmed that a special session of the Punjab Legislative Assembly has been convened for April 13 to pass a stringent anti-sacrilege law. The legislation, framed in consultation with the Sant Samaj and senior legal experts, will amend the Jagat Jot Sri Guru Granth Sahib Satkar Act, 2008 and introduce a minimum sentence of ten years, extendable to life imprisonment, along with a provision barring bail for at least one year for those convicted of sacrilege.
“Anyone attempting sacrilege will face the strictest punishment this state has ever seen,” Mann said. “The date — April 13 — is not a coincidence. It is a message.”
JALLIANWALA BAGH CHARGE: MANN TARGETS BADAL FAMILY HISTORY
In some of the sharpest language of the afternoon, Mann revisited a historical controversy surrounding the Badal family, accusing their ancestors of feasting with General Dyer — the British officer responsible for the 1919 Jallianwala Bagh massacre — on the very evening of the atrocity.
“On the day when 3,000 of our people were massacred at Jallianwala Bagh, Majithia was feasting on meat that very evening,” Mann charged, invoking April 13, 1919. He alleged that the family had also arranged a siropa and forgiveness for General Dyer at the Golden Temple, calling it an act that “exposed their anti-national and anti-Punjab mindset.”
He further accused the Akali Dal of controlling the appointment and removal of Jathedars of Sri Akal Takht Sahib for political convenience, and of patronising the drug trade during their years in power. “Their hands are drenched with the blood of millions of youth,” he said. “These sins are unpardonable.”
CONGRESS AND BJP IN THE CROSSHAIRS
Mann reserved pointed barbs for the Congress too, ridiculing the party’s internal disarray. “In Congress, every leader wants to become Chief Minister. They have more CMs than workers,” he said, adding that even leaders sent to unite the party’s Punjab unit did not know how to pronounce local names.
On the BJP and the Centre, Mann questioned the government’s priorities amid public hardship. “Crores of people in this country are living in poverty, gas cylinders are unavailable, and the Prime Minister is busy travelling abroad and addressing rallies,” he said.
He contrasted AAP’s governance record — citing free electricity to 90% of households, over 65,000 jobs provided without corruption, toll plazas closed saving ₹70 lakh daily, canal water usage rising from 22% to 71%, and health insurance of ₹10 lakh for 65 lakh families — with what he described as decades of opposition failure.
AAP’S WELFARE PITCH FOR 2027
Mann outlined AAP’s core offer to Punjab voters ahead of the 2027 elections: free treatment up to ₹10 lakh under the Mukh Mantri Sehat Yojna, with over 30 lakh cards issued and 1.65 lakh treatments already provided; ₹1,000 per month for women from other categories and ₹1,500 for SC women above 18 years under the Mawan Dheeyan Satkar Yojna; and daytime electricity supply to farm tube wells — described as a first in the state’s history.
“Freebies cannot eliminate poverty — education is the key,” Mann said. “That is why we are prioritising it above everything else.”
AAP Punjab Prabhari Manish Sisodia, also present at the event, backed the Chief Minister’s pitch. “Bhagwant Mann has proved to be the most popular Chief Minister in Punjab’s history,” Sisodia said. “The party will return to power with a massive mandate.”
Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan and Cabinet Ministers Dr Baljeet Kaur and Dr Balbir Singh were also in attendance.
