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Who are the mysterious Guptas Kejriwal is sending to Rajya Sabha & causing turmoil in AAP?

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AAP leader Kumar Vishwas denied ticket as party nominated outsiders, Dr Sushil Gupta and N.D. Gupta, for RS berths.

New Delhi: The decision of the Aam Aadmi Party to nominate two little-known candidates to the Rajya Sabha has sparked fresh trouble in the party and raised uncomfortable questions – who are Dr Sushil Gupta and N.D. Gupta? And why has the party picked them considering they are “outsiders” with no AAP background?

The choice of the two Guptas has come as a surprise to some senior leaders, especially rebels such as Kumar Vishwas. The latter’s supporters wanted Vishwas to be nominated for one of the seats. Party sources said AAP leader Ashutosh was also eyeing an RS berth.

According to the sources, Vishwas had lost his chance eight-nine months ago when he allegedly tried to split the party. MLAs close to Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal recorded the conversations Vishwas had with his supporters and played the audio clip before a select group of party functionaries to discredit him.

The three RS seats from Delhi will become vacant on 27 January.

The association of Sushil Gupta and N.D. Gupta with the AAP started only a few months ago. While Sushil Gupta is a former Congress member, N.D. Gupta is a leading chartered accountant. They are said to have come in touch with Kejriwal just a few months ago.

Sushil Gupta was fielded as a Congress candidate from the Moti Nagar assembly seat in 2013 against Kuldeep Singh Channa of the AAP. However, both had lost the election to Subhash Sachdeva of the BJP.

Sushil Gupta had even tried for a Lok Sabha ticket in the past. He runs a chain of educational institutions in Delhi and Haryana called Ganga International Schools. He also runs Maharaja Agrasen Hospital in west Delhi.

“He got tickets for the first time in 2013,” J.P. Agrawal, former Delhi Congress president, told ThePrint.

Sushil Gupta was also associated with the traders’ wing of the Congress. He resigned from the Congress on 28 November.

Delhi Congress president Ajay Maken tweeted, “When I asked him why, he said AAP has promised him a Rajya Sabha seat. Sushil is good man known for his charity.” (sic)

N.D. Gupta, a chartered accountant, has a good command over taxation laws. He has written several books on taxation and even conducts special classes for professionals on Goods and Services Tax (GST).

He ran a financial consultancy firm, NDG Global, in the early-2000s. His son, Navin Gupta, is also a CA and currently the vice-president of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI).

“N.D. Gupta has a reputation in the CA fraternity and I have worked with him in the past,” said Jagannadham Thunuguntla, head of research, Karvy Stock Broking. “I wish him on his nomination for the upper house of Parliament.”

The two Guptas are said to have come in touch with Kejriwal in the past few months and helped formulate the AAP strategy on GST. While Sushil Gupta used to brief Kejriwal on the problems faced by the traders in Delhi, N.D. Gupta explained the technicalities and legalities behind the new tax system.

“We saw both of them with Kejriwal-ji in recent times and they would even meet Manish-bhai (Sisodia),” said an AAP MLA.

“But we thought they are just experts guiding us in formulating our political strategy over economic matters. Never thought they would get Rajya Sabha nominations,” the MLA added.

The story has been updated

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