HARBHAJAN SINGH, MLA RAGHAV CHADHA AMONG 5 CANDIDATES NOMINATED BY AAP TO RAJYA SABHA

(The Quiver): Aam Aadmi Party finalised its 5 nominees to the Rajya Sabha from Punjab, on Monday. AAP has chosen star cricketer Harbhajan Singh, its Punjab in-charge Raghav Chadha, IIT Delhi Professor Sandeep Pathak, and Lovely Professional University Chancellor Ashok Mittal as its Rajya Sabha nominees. The other nominee is Ludhiana-based businessman Sanjeev Arora – fulfilling AAP’s promise to the trader community in Punjab. With 92 MLAs in Punjab, AAP can nominate 7 MPs to the Upper House- 5 now and 2 in the next biennial election.

Meet AAP's 5 new Rajya Sabha MPs 🥳

1. Ashok Mittal
2. Harbhajan Singh
3. Raghav Chadha
4. Sandeep Pathak
5. Sanjeev Arora pic.twitter.com/wlRuemaajc
— AAP (@AamAadmiParty) March 21, 2022

The 5 MPs will be nominated as the incumbent Punjab MPs’ terms will come to an end on April 9. The AAP MPs will be replacing – Partap Singh Bajwa, SS Dullo (Congress), Shwait Malik (BJP), Naresh Gujral (SAD), and SS Dhindsa (SAD-Sanyukt). The term of the remaining 2 Punjab MPs – Balwinder Singh Bhunder (SAD), Ambika Soni (Congress) will end on July 4 and polls will be held in July. AAP currently has 3 Rajya Sabha MPs – Sanjay Singh, Sushil Kumar Gupta and Narain Dass Gupta and will soon expand to 10 – making a sizable non-UPA Opposition to NDA.

As per reports, Harbhajan Singh was set to join BJP ahead of the Punjab polls in February, however, the ace spinner refuted it. Later, rumours were rife that Harbhajan Singh may join Congress after ex-Congress Punjab President Navjot Sidhu posted a photo with Singh claiming ‘Picture loaded with possibilities. With Bhajji the shining star’. However, Bhajji – as he is fondly referred to – did not join any political party.

Moreover, Pathak – the IIT Delhi Professor – is reportedly one of Kejriwal’s back-end team and campaign designer. One of the names which was doing the rounds was Naresh Patel – a popular Leuva Patel leader whose nomination seemed keeping upcoming Gujarat polls in mind. Patel – who has been invited from both BJP and AAP, is yet to reveal his inclination. AAP eyes to make inroads into PM Modi’s homestate after a brilliant debut in Gujarat civic polls.