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With focus on sports, AAP’s RS nominee Harbhajan Singh vows to raise India’s Olympics tally
Speaking to reporters after filing his papers for the Rajya Sabha from Punjab as an Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) nominee, the former India spinner said, “My focus will be on the development of sports and connecting the youth of Punjab with sports. A country like India should win 200 medals in the Olympics, I will do everything to promote sports in the country.”
Former cricketer Harbhajan Singh on Monday vowed to promote sports in the country and increase India’s Olympics medal tally to 200.
Speaking to reporters after filing his papers for the Rajya Sabha from Punjab as an Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) nominee, the former India spinner said, “My focus will be on the development of sports and connecting the youth of Punjab with sports. A country like India should win 200 medals in the Olympics, I will do everything to promote sports in the country.”
Last week, a source close to Singh had told news agency PTI that AAP's top leadership, including Punjab's new chief minister Bhagwant Mann, had approached the former cricketer for the nomination. "The new CM wants Harbhajan to work towards lifting the standard of sports in the state, which has gone down considerably in the past few years," the source had said.
“Harbhajan always had an 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 a cordial relationship with Mann,” the source further said.
Singh is among the five candidates chosen by the AAP to the Upper House of Parliament from Punjab. The other four candidates from Arvind Kejriwal's party are Raghav Chadha, IIT Delhi faculty Sandeep Pathak, industrialist Sanjeev Arora and educationist Ashok Kumar Mittal.
The term of the previous Rajya Sabha members – Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa (Shiromani Akali Dal - SAD), Partap Singh Bajwa (Congress), Shwait Malik (Bharatiya Janata Party -BJP), Naresh Gujral (SAD) and Shamsher Singh Dullo (Congress) will expire on April 9.
Punjab has a total of seven seats in the Upper House of Parliament. The term of SAD's Balwinder Singh Bhunder and Congress leader Ambika Soni, who are also Rajya Sabha MPs from Punjab, will end on July 4 and elections for these two seats will be held later.
