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AAP MP Bhagwant Mann Allegedly Arrived Drunk At Sikh Religious Ceremony, Forced To Leave

More Embarrassment For AAP: MP Bhagwant Mann Allegedly Arrived Drunk At Sikh Religious Ceremony

Comedian-turned-politician Bhagwant Mann was forced to leave a religious ceremony at a gurdwara in Punjab's Faridkot on Sunday after he was allegedly found drunk.

The ceremony held at Bargari village was to honour two men killed in police firing during a protest against the desecration of the Guru Granth Sahib on October 11.

According to a report in the Indian Express, the Aam Aadmi Party MP from Punjab’s Sangrur arrived at the ceremony drunk and did not resist when he was confronted by Jagtar Singh, a former granthi, or ceremonial reader of the Guru Granth Sahib -- the holy book of the Sikhs.

A video posted on Facebook showed Mann surrounded by a group of men who are shouting that he was drunk.

"Since, the stage at the venue was overcrowded I decided to come down and sit. I was not forced by anyone to come down from the stage," Mann said.

However, Singh told Express that Mann should be banned from sharing "any panthic stage in future and he should apologise to the whole of Punjab for this shameful act".

"We are struggling with the case of disrespect to the Guru Granth Sahib and how can a man come drunk on the stage where Guru Granth Sahib Parkash had been done?" he said.

This comes as futher embarrassment for AAP, already reeling under a spate of controversies surrounding its members. In an unprecedented move, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal recently sacked his Food Minister Asim Ahmed Khan on charges of corruption, making the announcement at a highly dramatic press conference.

AAP MLA Somnath Bharti was recently arrested on charges of domestic violence.

Sikhs across the world have protested against the Oct 11 incident and the killing of the two youths as central para military forces maintained peace in Punjab. Ten companies of central para military forces were on alert in four districts - Amritsar, Jalandhar, Ludhiana and Tarn Taran.

Prayer meetings have been held at various places and activists of Sikh groups blocked roads at several places including Moga, Faridkot, Bathinda, Amritsar, Beas and Hoshiarpur as part of their agitation.

Police detained two independent MLA brothers from Ludhiana -- Simrajit Singh Bains and Balwinder Singh Bains -- when they along with their supporters tried to gherao the house of Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal in Chandigarh. Water cannons were used to disperse the procession led by the Bains brothers.

Punjab police chief Sumedh Singh Saini was shunted out by the state government over the handling of the situation. (With PTI inputs)

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