Lok Sabha polls: Sushil Gupta is AAP candidate from Kurukshetra

Even as the election commission is yet to declare schedule for the general elections, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Tuesday declared its Haryana state president and former Rajya Sabha MP Sushil Gupta, 62, as the party’s candidate from Kurukshetra Lok Sabha seat.

Even as the election commission is yet to declare schedule for the general elections, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Tuesday declared its Haryana state president and former Rajya Sabha MP Sushil Gupta, 62, as the party’s candidate from Kurukshetra Lok Sabha seat.

AAP workers celebrating with state president Sushil Gupta after he was declared as party candidate from Kurukshetra Lok Sabha seat. (Photo: X)

The announcement was made during a press briefing by party’s national general secretary Sandeep Pathak and Delhi ministers Gopal Rai and Atishi in New Delhi after a meeting of its political affairs committee chaired by party’s national convener Arvind Kejriwal.

Taking to X, Gupta, a one-time MP, thanked Kejriwal for showing confidence in him.

“I assure the God-like people of Kurukshetra Lok Sabha that I will leave no stone unturned in the development and welfare of the area and will always be ready to serve you all,” he wrote.

Later speaking to PTI, Gupta said, “Kurukshetra will set an example for change in Haryana and ensure the farewell of the Modi government at the Centre. Farmers of the region are most affected and are protesting on the borders with Punjab. Gunpoint robbery near the grain markets is a norm here, contractors are being paid without getting the work done, youth is jobless and bound to take drugs. Kurukshetra is ready for a change.”

This comes days after AAP sealed its seat share agreement with Indian National Congress (INC) to contest the parliamentary elections under the INDIA bloc in Haryana.

As per the deal, the Congress will contest nine of the 10 seats in the state, currently all held by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

The saffron party’s state president, Nayab Saini currently represents the Kurukshetra seat in Parliament.

The constituency covers four assembly seats of Kurukshetra (Ladwa, Shahabad, Pehowa and Thanesar), four in Kaithal (Kaithal, Kalayat, Pundir and Guhla) and Radaur seat in Yamunanagar.

A native of Jind district of Haryana, Gupta was the party’s Rajya Sabha MP from Delhi till last month and had unsuccessfully contested for the 2013 Delhi assembly election from the Moti Nagar seat on the Congress ticket.

As per the party, Gupta is an educationist and businessman, whose educational institutions serve 15,000 students across Delhi and Haryana.

He also owns Maharaja Agrasen Hospitals in the belt and runs medical colleges under the same name. He has done B.Com, LLB and received honorary Doctor of Literature degree (D.Litt).