Bhagwant Mann, AAP's Pick For Punjab, Responds To Barbs Over Drinking

Bhagwant Mann and AAP were often ridiculed over the MP's drinking. He was accused of coming to public events drunk.

Bhagwant Mann, named the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP's) presumptive Chief Minister for Punjab after an unusual public televote, said he could now honestly say he is from the "public quota".

In an interview to NDTV, the two-time AAP MP tackled rivals' digs at his past drinking problem.

"I have been facing this but Punjab has given me a stamp. They have nothing else to say on me. There is no corruption, no Enforcement Directorate raids, no Income Tax raids, I have a clean image...I still live in a rented house...They have been saying this for me for 11 years," Bhagwant Mann, 48, said.

"But people have given me big wins after that. I have been the best performing Punjab MP in the Lok Sabha. I did the most number of rallies. All this talk is baseless," he told NDTV.