Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Anmol Gagan Maan on Saturday tendered her resignation from the Punjab Vidhan Sabha and later announced her decision to quit politics, too.
Maan sent her resignation to the Punjab Assembly Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan, without giving any reasons behind her decision. In a message on X, Maan wrote in Punjabi, “My heart is heavy, but I have decided to leave politics. My resignation from the post of MLA to the Speaker should be accepted. My best wishes are with the party. I hope the Punjab government will live up to the expectations of the people.”
There was no immediate reaction from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). Party sources said Maan resigned a few days ago and the party had tried to persuade her to reconsider her decision, news agency PTI reported.
Who is Anmol Gagan Maan?
According to a PTI report, the 35-year-old singer-turned-politician won her maiden election from the Kharar Assembly constituency in 2022. She had defeated Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) MLA Ranjit Sing Gill from the Kharar seat by a margin of 37,885 votes in the 2022 assembly polls.
Hailing from Mansa district, Maan began her political career after the AAP in July 2020. According to her 2022 poll affidavit, Maan has studied till Class 12, the report said.
Before taking a plunge into politics, Maan had made her name in the Punjabi music industry. She sang many songs like ‘Suit’, ‘Ghaint Purpose’, ‘Sherni’, ‘Zamantan’, ‘Golden Girl’, ‘Royal Jatti’, ‘Red Fulkari’ and ‘Velly’.
She later became AAP youth wing co-president and actively participated in the party’s protest programmes and took on the then Congress regime before the assembly polls, the report said.
She also sang a campaign song – ‘Kejriwal hai’ – for the Aam Aadmi Party before the 2022 assembly elections.
Maan’s short political life
Before the 2022 assembly polls, Maan had said that if AAP comes to power, the government would give the MSP on each crop “within five minutes”. The opposition leaders used her video statement to target the AAP after it failed to fulfil the promise.
She had accused administrative officers in Mohali of seeking bribes in her name in September 2024. She had levelled allegations against executive officers and tehsildars of Kharar of bringing disrespect to her.
According to the PTI report, Maan also faced flak from her political rivals for the poor conditions of roads and the sewerage system at several places in her assembly constituency.
She became a minister during the Bhagwant Mann government’s first cabinet expansion in July 2022. She was among five MLAs who were given Cabinet berths.
She was the second woman to become a cabinet minister in the Mann government. Her responsibilities included important portfolios like tourism and culture affairs, investment promotion, labour and removal of grievances, as report by PTI.
However, the Bhagwant Mann government dropped four ministers, including Maan, from the Cabinet in September 2024.
When she was a minister in June 2024, Maan tied the knot with advocate Shahbaaz Singh Sohi. They got married at a gurdwara in Mohali’s Zirakpur with Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and several AAP leaders attended the ceremony.
