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Punjab: Meet the AAP picks for Rajya Sabha
All five AAP candidates are set to get elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha from Punjab as no other party has fielded any candidate
Former cricketer Harbhajan Singh, Delhi MLA Raghav Chadha, IIT-Delhi faculty Sandeep Pathak, Lovely Professional University chancellor Ashok Mittal and Ludhiana industrialist Sanjeev Arora are the Aam Aadmi Party candidates who filed their nomination papers for the Rajya Sabha from Punjab on Monday.
All five AAP candidates are set to get elected unopposed as no other party fielded any candidate. Monday was the last day for filing of nominations. The AAP scored a historic triumph in the Punjab polls, winning 92 of the 117 assembly seats.
The five seats are falling vacant as the term of office of Rajya Sabha members Partap Singh Bajwa, Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, Shamsher Singh Dullo, Naresh Gujral and Shwait Malik is due to expire on April 9. Rajya Sabha members have a term of six years.
Know more about the five candidates:
Harbhajan Singh
One of India’s most successful off-spinners, Singh, 41, made his debut in 1998 and played international cricket till 2016 and announced his retirement from all forms of cricket in December last year. He has his roots in Jalandhar. When then Punjab Congress chief Navjot Sidhu tweeted a photo with ‘Bhajji’ three months ago with the caption “picture load with possibilities”, it had set off speculations about him joining the party.
Raghav Chadha
A trusted aide of AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal, the articulate and suave 33-year-old MLA from Rajendra Nagar in Delhi was the Punjab affairs in-charge. He was appointed in December 2020, and remained in the thick of things till Monday, the day he filed his nomination papers for Rajya Sabha, acting as the eyes and ears of the high command. He also led the charge against then Congress chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi on illegal sand mining.
Sandeep Pathak
The low profile IIT-Delhi associate professor, who has shunned limelight till now, caught everyone’s attention after Kejriwal on Sunday lauded his role in AAP’s resounding victory in Punjab, giving him credit for designing the campaign strategy and building the organisation. He has been made Punjab affairs co-incharge in Chadha’s place. All eyes will be on him as he steps into a political role. Pathak has a PhD degree from the Cambridge University.
Ashok Mittal
Ashok Mittal, 58, is the founder chancellor of the Lovely Professional University (LPU). He did LLB from Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar. The Mittal family started Lovely Sweets in Jalandhar and later entered into the automobiles business. Set up in 2005, the LPU is one of the largest universities in India today with more than 30,000 students from India and other countries. Mittal has roots in Rajasthan and the family had moved to Punjab in the early 50’s.
Sanjeev Arora
Sanjeev Arora, 58, is into real estate and hosiery business. He developed the Hampton Business Park and Hampton Homes in Ludhiana. Arora runs an export business since the last three decades and diversified into real estate in 2006. He runs the Krishna Pran Breast Cancer Charitable Trust that was established after his parents lost their lives to cancer. Arora is on the governing board of DMCH and is also a member of Apex Council of Punjab Cricket Association.
