Hoshiarpur, Nov 18 (PTI) Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Saturday exuded confidence that his party AAP will win all the 13 Lok Sabha seats in the state in the 2024 elections and said he has come to this conclusion after speaking to the common people.

He made the remarks after inaugurating and laying the foundation stones of development projects worth Rs 867 crore in the Hoshiarpur Lok Sabha seat. AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal was also present on the occasion.

'I am not speaking about paid surveys. I speak to people in villages and cities, shopkeepers, labourers and traders… I, today, say the tally in the coming Lok Sabha elections will be 13-0 in favour of the AAP. We will also win the Chandigarh seat,' he said while addressing a gathering. The Union Territory of Chandigarh is the common capital of Punjab and Haryana.

The chief minister said the AAP had categorically stated during the 2022 Punjab assembly polls that leaders such as Parkash Singh Badal (the later SAD patriarch), Bikram Singh Majithia (SAD) and Navjot Singh Sidhu (Congress) will lose. They lost the elections from their respective seats, he said.

Mann also dared Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) chief Sukhbir Singh Badal to file a defamation suit against him.

His outburst came a day after Sukhbir Badal sent him a legal notice, asking him to tender an unconditional apology within five days for making 'malicious' allegations against the Badal family or face a defamation case.

Attacking the SAD chief, Mann said Sukhbir Badal had asked him to tender an apology or face a case for defaming the Badals during a debate at the Punjab Agricultural University in Ludhiana on November 1. 'You file a case (against me). I will expose their misdeeds,' he said.

Opposition parties such as the SAD and BJP had boycotted the 'open debate' called by the chief minister to discuss issues related to Punjab, including the Sutlej-Yamuna Link canal.

The notice accuses Mann of defaming Sukhbir Badal and his family members with 'false' and 'malicious' allegations that an irrigation branch was created to carry canal water to the Badal farm in Haryana's Balasar village.

Chief Minister Mann said traditional political parties have 'ruined' the state. Sukhbir Badal and his 'coterie' sold the interests of Punjab, ruined the lives of the common people and they are now insulting the youth of the state by saying that only 'malangs' (vagabonds) support the AAP, he said.

'He (Badal) calls us 'malangs' and dubs his supporters as the pride of Punjab. You ruled these 'malangs'…you looted Punjab,' Mann said.

The AAP has a battery of intellectuals who have studied in premier institutes both at the national and international levels, Mann said, adding that all of them proved their mettle in various fields before entering politics.

Targeting the SAD chief, Mann said such leaders who do not even know how to pronounce basic words of Punjabi are talking baselessly about the state and its people.

He said traditional parties are envious of him because he hails from a common family and is working tirelessly to ensure the welfare of people. These leaders have always believed that they have the divine right to rule Punjab and due to this they are not able to digest that a common man is running the state efficiently, the senior AAP leader said.

These leaders have befooled the people for a long time but now the public is not getting swayed by their misleading propaganda, Mann said. It is heartening that people routed out these leaders living in palaces or palatial houses, he said.

The chief minister also lashed out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying he a 'master of phraseology' who has 'befooled' people during his tenure. Mann reminded that Modi had promised Rs 15 lakh in every account, and said but it has not been deposited yet.

The people of the Gurdaspur Lok Sabha constituency, which adjoins Hoshiarpur, are waiting to see the face of their MP, Sunny Deol, who was elected on a BJP ticket in 2019, Mann said.

The chief minister alleged that both the BJP and the Congress have befooled people since Independence. These parties have done nothing tangible for the wellbeing of the masses and just enjoyed the fruits of power, he said.

Mann said people will never forgive these parties for their misdeeds and will further teach them a befitting lesson in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.

On the inauguration and laying of foundation stones, Mann said the fortunes of the entire Kandi region is being transformed.

Mann said these projects will give impetus to the development in this region and bring prosperity in the lives of the people. PTI COR CHS VSD AS AS ANB ANB ANB