WHO’S THAT MANN?
A discerning Punjabi voter with a periscope on the world may see a resemblance between present events back home and what took shape miles away in Italy just over a decade ago. Beginning from the mid-’80s, popular comedian Beppe Grillo had been earning quite a cult following with his merciless broadsides against politicians. By 2009, that anti-establishment spirit coalesced into a political party—Movimento 5 Stelle (M5S)—that began attracting voters disgruntled with the mainstream. Within nine years, the party gave Italy a prime minister. Minus the last bit, anyone can notice an identical spirit behind India’s Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), but the coincidence became more striking this week when the party announced comedian Bhagwant Mann as its pick for the chief minister’s post. Punjab would have its own Tandoori Grillo.
On January