With ‘Challa’, Bhagwant Mann lightens mood at Punjab Raj Bhawan

Ruchika M Khanna

Chandigarh, January 27

Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, in an impromptu act, got on to the stage during the At Home function organised at the Raj Bhawan last evening and regaled the audience with a rendition of the famous “Challa”.

“Kalakaar han… aapne aisa mahaul bana ditta, stage dekh ke rukeya nahin janda,” he said, looking at Governor Banwarilal Purohit as he started singing the famous song, entrenched in public memory through its rendition by famous singer Gurdas Mann.

It is after more than a year of public spats between Purohit and the CM that the relation between the two seem to have thawed. Mann had remained absent from public functions on Republic Day and Independence Day organised at Raj Bhawan last year.

Yesterday, while a group of artistes from North Zone Cultural Centre was regaling the gathering, Mann suddenly got on the stage. Amongst the audience, besides Governor Purohit, Vidhan Sabha Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan, Chandigarh MP Kirron Kher, GOC in C, Western Command, Lt Gen Devender Sharma, were also present.

The CM told that he was about to become a father to another child in March. He said he did not know the gender of the child and has not got any pre-natal test done.

“In the past, I asked Gurdas Mann to make some changes. The song goes… ‘Challa nau nau kheve, puttar mithde meve’. I requested Mann Sahib to change it to ‘bache mithde meve’. After all, daughters give happiness and comfort to parents in old age,” he said.

Mann later thanked Governor Purohit saying, “He is my custodian too.”

Set to welcome another child: CM

Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann said he was about to become a father to another child in March. He added that he does not know the gender of the child