Punjab ex-Cabinet minister Anmol Gagan resigns as lawmaker, quits AAP (Lead)

Chandigarh, July 19 (IANS) Signer-turned-politician and former Cabinet minister Anmol Gagan Maan, 34, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) lawmaker from Kharar, has resigned from the Punjab Vidhan Sabha and quit politics as well.

She met party convenor and former chief minister Arvind Kejriwal four days ago for what she described as an “in-depth discussion.”

Opting for social media platforms X and Facebook to announce her resignation, she wrote on Saturday in Punjabi: “My heart is heavy, but I have decided to leave politics. My resignation from the post of MLA should be accepted by the Speaker.”

“My best wishes are with the party. I hope the Punjab government will live up to the expectations of the people.”

She sent her resignation to Assembly Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan. She requested the Speaker to accept her resignation from the post of MLA.

Anmol Gagan was elected from Kharar in the 2022 Punjab Assembly elections and served as a minister in the Bhagwant Mann-led cabinet.

She held the portfolios of tourism and culture, investment promotion, labour, and hospitality before being dropped in the cabinet reshuffle in September 2024.

She has won several awards in folk singing and dance at both the national and international levels. Some of her popular songs include ‘Suit’, ‘Ghaint Purpose’, and ‘Sherni’.

Anmol Gagan Maan, who hails from Mansa district, married advocate Shahbaaz Singh Sohi in June 2024.

She joined the AAP in 2021 and won the Kharar assembly seat by defeating Shiromani Akali Dal’s Ranjit Singh Gill by a margin of 37,718 votes.

Interestingly, on Friday, real estate baron Gill, a close aide of Shiromani Akali Dal President Sukhbir Singh Badal, resigned from the primary membership of the party. He is likely to join either the BJP or AAP next week.

--IANS

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