AAP members Sanjay Singh, Swati Maliwal and ND Gupta elected to Rajya Sabha
Officials said the results were declared before the scheduled election on January 19, as only three AAP candidates filed nominations for the three seats up for election
New Delhi: The three Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) nominees – Sanjay Singh, former Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) chief Swati Maliwal, and chartered accountant Narain Das Gupta, were on Friday elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha from Delhi, officials said.
The trio received their certificates from Returning Officer Ashish Kundra. Kundra, Delhi’s transport commissioner, said the three were declared winners unopposed as there was no one else contesting.
Officials said the results were declared before the scheduled election on January 19, as only three AAP candidates filed nominations for the three seats up for election.
The six-year term of AAP MPs Singh, N D Gupta and Sushil Kumar Gupta ends on January 27.
While the AAP has renominated Singh and N D Gupta for a second term, it nominated Maliwal to replace Sushil Gupta. Shushil has been dropped to focus on strengthening AAP’s base in Haryana.
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While Singh and N D Gupta are sitting Rajya Sabha MPs and have been re-elected, Maliwal has been elected to the Rajya Sabha for the first time.
Singh is currently in jail in connection with the enforcement directorate’s money laundering probe into alleged irregularities in the Delhi excise policy case.
AAP has 62 MLAs in the 70-member Delhi assembly and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) holds eight. The BJP chose not to nominate anyone for the Rajya Sabha polls as the party did not have adequate numbers to ensure the victory of their nominee, an official aware of the development said.
The AAP candidates filed their nominations on January 8 with the returning officer where Singh arrived in a prison van after he was allowed by a local court to file his nomination papers.
According to an affidavit submitted by Singh, 52, the AAP leader and his wife have total moveable assets of Rs.31.2 lakh, zero immovable assets and 17 pending criminal cases.
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According to an affidavit submitted by Maliwal, 39, has a total moveable assets of Rs.19.22 lakh, zero immovable assets and three pending criminal cases. And ND Gupta, 78, has a total moveable assets of Rs.4.14 crore, Rs.7 crore immovable assets and zero pending criminal cases.
ND Gupta is a practising chartered accountant and a former president of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI). He is currently also the national treasurer of the AAP party.
“I thank Arvind Kejriwal for once again giving me the opportunity. I have done a lot of work in the current tenure and will try to do better in the next tenure as well,” ND Gupta said after the election.
DCW chief Maliwal has been an active advocate for women’s rights and social issues. She has been associated with various campaigns and movements aimed at combating violence against women, advocating for stricter laws, and promoting gender equality. In 2015, she was appointed as the DCW chairperson, where she has been instrumental in spearheading initiatives to address issues such as acid attacks, sexual harassment, and women’s safety in Delhi.
Delhi chief minister and AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal took to X to congratulate. “Many congratulations and best wishes to the three leaders of Aam Aadmi Party elected to Rajya Sabha. I am confident that you will strongly raise the issues of the common man in Parliament and fight for the rights of the people of Delhi,” he said.