AAP’s legacy both a boon and burden, Mann’s Meet charts own path with grassroot connect

Called to fill in Mann’s shoes, Hayer has his task cut out in Sangrur that has largely a rural constituency, known for its unpredictable voters.

While Mann, an established actor, political satirist and a comedian, always had the talent to leave any gathering in splits with his punches even before he had entered politics. Hayer, on the other hand, is known for being a man of few words.

Hayer says that undoubtedly Mann “would always remain his idol and none could take his place in Sangrur” but “every politician has his own way of doing politics”.

“Main apne aap nu khushnaseeb samajhdan haan ki mainu eh mauka mileya hai (I consider myself fortunate that I have been given this chance to contest from Sangrur). His (Mann’s) shoes are too big to fill, but then I have my own identity, my own way of interacting with the voters. My strength lies in grassroots connect with each AAP worker in all nine segments of Sangrur because I started as a volunteer when AAP was formed. We went village to village to make the party visible in Punjab,” says Hayer.

Hayer’s father had retired as a sub-divisional officer (SDO) from Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL). A native of Kurar village in Mehal Kalan of Barnala, Hayer secured a degree as mechanical engineer from Swami Vivekanand Institute of Engineering and Technology (SVIET) near Mohali in 2012.

His friend and batchmate from SVIET, Amritpal Singh Sukhanand, the AAP MLA from Baghapurana of Moga district, reminisces: “We both came to Chandigarh after clearing Class 12 and became flat-mates. Then we did engineering together. We wanted to take a shot at civil services and moved to Delhi. When Anna Hazare anti-corruption movement was at its peak, we would take part in candle marches and worked as volunteers. As Lok Sabha elections 2014 approached, we started working as volunteers for the AAP”.

Sukhanand says that Hayer was an obvious choice for Sangrur. “He is extremely calm, patient, and hardly has any rivals within the party. His is honest and has clean image. He has remained accessible as a minister. While preparing for UPSC, he would study for 14-15 hours every day. He shows similar dedication in politics too”.

Not many know that Hayer, as a volunteer of AAP, was the force behind senior Supreme Court advocate and human rights activist Harvinder Singh Phoolka’s 2014 Lok Sabha campaign. Phoolka had contested on AAP ticket from Ludhiana. Hayer was in the incharge for Dakha, a rural segment, considered a SAD bastion, and would move village to village and organize nukkad meetings. Phoolka lost the election by a whisker but had won from Dakha.

“Though I worked as volunteer for Phoolka saab in 2014, I wasn’t sure of taking up politics as a profession,” says Hayer, who made his only attempt at cracking the UPSC in 2013.

Three years after that Lok Sabha election, AAP fielded Hayer from Barnala and rest, as they say, is history.

After AAP’s landslide victory in 2022 state polls, Hayer was inducted as minister and allotted key portfolios of mines and geology and education. In a rejig in November last year, he was divested of four portfolios and left with the sports and youth services department, the move coming amid reports that Hayer had lost CM’s favour.

But the fact that Hayer has been chosen as Sangrur candidate, over two other ministers from the district — finance minister Harpal Singh Cheema (Dirba) and Aman Arora (Sunam) — reinforces that he continues to be the closest to Mann.

Hayer, who won against SAD’s Kulwant Singh Keetu in 2022 with a margin of over 37,000 votes, has been preferred even over Labh Singh Ugoke, who defeated former CM Charanjit Singh Channi from Bhadaur, also a part of Sangrur Lok Sabha constituency.

Entrusted with the responsibility to take Mann’s political legacy ahead, Hayer, faces an uphill task.

In 2014, Mann had defeated SAD’s Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa by over 2 lakh votes. In 2019, he won against Congress’s Kewal Singh Dhillon by over 1 lakh votes — and was the only AAP MP in Lok Sabha that year.

In 2022 state polls, AAP won all nine Assembly segments in Sangrur Lok Sabha seat (Lehra, Dirba, Sunam, Sangrur and Dhuri from Sangrur district; Barnala, Mehal Kalan and Bhadaur from Barnala district and Malerkotla).

However, three months after forming the government, AAP failed to retain Sangrur Lok Sabha seat in the bypoll. A cocktail of several factors including the killing of popular singer Shubhdeep Singh, alias, Sidhu Moosewala, simmering anger over farmers’ agitation, inaction in sacrilege cases were blamed for AAP’s defeat in its bastion. Two years on, the issues persist and would pose a challenge for Hayer. Farmers are not just blaming BJP but also AAP for not fulfilling promises such as minimum support price (MSP) for all crops. Hayer’s road has been made tougher with Congress fielding Sukhpal Singh Khaira, a firebrand leader and three-time Bholath MLA who has continued to remain at the front launching scathing attacks on Mann and AAP.

A confident Hayer, however, says: “Khaira saab is not a local. He has no base here whereas my strength is that I know each and every worker in my constituency where I have been working for over a decade now. This election is not about winning or losing but to save country’s Constitution which is under attack from BJP-led Centre. People of Sangrur will vote for the pro-people works done by AAP government in Punjab in two years.”

Hayer, who is also often seen playing cricket and badminton in professional tourneys and is an avid animal lover, had declared his total assets at Rs 44 lakh during 2022 state polls.

“Assi eh dasna chahune haan, ki Bhagwant Mann ji de assi sipaahi haan. Jo marzi tussi kar lo, na assi ED to daran wale haan na CBI ton (We are the soldiers of Bhagwant Mann. Do whatever you can, we won’t be scared of ED or CBI),” says Hayer while campaigning, in a warning to BJP.

Khaira, meanwhile, has hit where it might hurt AAP the most. He has alleged that an accused in Sidhu Moosewala murder case has been campaigning for Hayer in Sangrur, a charge denied by the latter.