New Delhi: With 92 out of Punjab’s 117 seats in its kitty, the Aam Aadmi Party was spoilt for choice in picking candidates to the Rajya Sabha.
On Monday it announced five names – men from diverse fields – for the five Rajya Sabha seats that will fall empty on 9 April.
These men are former cricketer Harbhajan Singh, IIT professor Sandeep Pathak, academician Ashok Kumar Mittal, Krishna Pran Breast Cancer Care Charitable Trust founder Sanjiv Arora and Delhi MLA Raghav Chadha.
MPs going out are Pratap Singh Bajwa and Shamsher Singh Dullo from the Congress, Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa and Naresh Gujral from Shiromani Akali Dal and Shwait Malik from the Bharatiya Janata Party.
The Upper House elections are on March 31, for which names have to be submitted Monday. With the bunch from Punjab, AAP’s strength will go up from three to eight in Rajya Sabha.
Ace spinner Harbhajan Singh was a natural choice for Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann. “The new CM wants Harbhajan to work towards lifting the standard of sports in the state, which has gone down considerably in past few years,” a source close to the cricketer told PTI last week.
The ace spinner, who took over 700 wickets in a career of 18 years, recently retired from active sport.
His friend had said: “Harbhajan always had interest in working for people and especially for the benefit and betterment of sportspersons. If an opportunity arises, he would love to take up the responsibility as he has always shared cordial relationship with Bhagwant Mann.”
The cricketer, 41, had also met former Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu before the elections, but had later categorically denied he was joining the Congress.
The other nominee, IIT professor Sandeep Pathak, has worked in the frontlines in Punjab and is credited with the party’s popularity and rise. He is close to national convener and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal as well as Bhagwant Mann.
Nominee Raghav Chadha was in-charge of AAP in Punjab and was very active during the polls.
Candidate Ashok Kumar Mittal is the founder of the Lovely Professional University and is known to be a popular social worker.
Ludhiana-based industrialist Sanjiv Arora has been involved in charitable work for 15 years. He opened his cancer trust after losing both parents to the disease.
Since AAP has a majority in the assembly, its nominees will be elected unopposed.
Also read: Mann, Kejriwal, Modi: Why new Punjab CM will have a tough time juggling conflicting interests