Simranjit Mann takes oath as Sangrur MP, swears by Constitution
Aditi Tandon
New Delhi, July 18
Sangrur MP and pro-Khalistan leader Simranjit Singh Mann on Monday reposed faith in the Constitution as he took oath of office.
Mann met Speaker Om Birla in his chamber and took oath in the Speaker’s office.
Taking oath in Punjabi, Mann said, “I affirm faith in the Indian constitution.”
Mann also promised to work for the betterment of Sangrur.
Mann’s trademark kirpan, which in the past he insiated on carrying to Parliament, was missing this time.
A three-time MP, Mann represented Sangrur in 1999 too.
A vocal supporter of Khalistan, Mann appears to have eschewed his separatist sentiments to owe allegiance to the Constitution.
He defeated AAP’s Gurmail Singh in Sangrur Lok Sabha by-election recently, winning by over 5,800 votes and handing out the AAP a shock defeat barely months after the party won a landslide in the Assembly polls.
Mann, a former cop, had quit the service after Operation Bluestar in 1984 and had registered a huge win in the 1989 general election in absentia. He had won from Tarn Taran by a margin of over 4.6 lakh votes. He had then refused to enter Parliament without the kirpan.
In 1999, he had won the Sangrur Lok Sabha seat defeating Akali stalwart Surjit Singh Barnala.
