Chandigarh, June 17 -- A day after the Akal Takht directed the Sikh community to ostracise him, Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann on Tuesday rejected the video that formed the basis of the decree, calling it "false and misleading propaganda".

In a video statement posted on X, Mann asserted that the man seen in the controversial footage was not him. "I had already clarified this before the jathedar of Sri Akal Takht Sahib. Neither the physical build nor the appearance of the person shown in the video matches me, yet false and misleading propaganda is being spread to damage my reputation," Mann said, adding that he rejects the video clip "completely".

The Sikh clergy on Monday declared Mann "Guru-Dokhi" (anti-Guru) and "Khalsa Panth vir...