AAP announces 5 candidates for RS polls from Punjab
Darpan News Desk IANS, 21 Mar, 2022 10:47 AM
Chandigarh, March 21 (IANS) The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Monday announced the names of its candidates for the elections of five Rajya Sabha seats in Punjab.
Former cricketer Harbhajan Singh, AAP's Punjab affairs co-in-charge Raghav Chadha, party's election strategist in Punjab, Sandeep Pathak, Lovely Professional University (LPU) Chancellor Ashok Kumar Mittal and Ludhiana's eminent industrialist Sanjeev Arora filed nomination for the Rajya Sabha seats from AAP in the Punjab legislative Assembly.
All the candidates filed their nomination papers in the presence of Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann.
The AAP had registered a landslide victory in Punjab Assembly elections 2022, and 92 candidates of the party reached the legislative assembly.
Looking at the number of seats and mathematical figures, all the five candidates of AAP are sure to be elected unopposed.
Chadha, who is the party's Punjab affairs co-in-charge, is a confidant of AAP's national convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.
In the 2020 Delhi Assembly Elections, Chadha won from Rajinder Nagar Assembly constituency in Fei and became an MLA. Chadha is also the vice-chairman of the Delhi Jal Board.
Sandeep Pathak joined the party to contribute to Kejriwal's dream of a corruption-free India.
He has been working and strengthening the party by staying behind the scenes for many years now.
Famous cricketer and former India off-spin bowler Harbhajan Singh also filed nomination for Rajya Sabha by joining the AAP.
Harbhajan Singh played for the Indian cricket team from 1998 to 2016 and made a special place in the hearts of the people of the country with his amazing and unique bowling.
Ashok Kumar Mittal, founder and chancellor of Lovely Professional University, has also filed his nomination as a candidate of AAP.
Mittal is known for his commendable work and social service in the field of higher education.
Born in a normal family, Mittal achieved success on the basis of his hard work and ability and achieved so much.
To contribute to the education sector in Punjab, he established Lovely Professional University (LPU) in Jalandhar. LPU is one of the largest universities in India. Students from more than 50 countries come here for higher education.
Sanjeev Arora, an eminent businessman of Ludhiana, will also go to Rajya Sabha from Punjab quota on behalf of AAP.
Arora runs the Krishna Pran Breast Cancer Charitable Trust. He founded it after his parents lost their lives due to cancer and treated more than 160 cancer patients free of cost.
A day earlier, Sonia Gandhi asked party chiefs Sidhu in Punjab, Ganesh Godiyal in Uttarakhand, Ajay Kumar Lallu in Uttar Pradesh, Girish Chodankar in Goa and Nameirakpam Loken Singh in Manipur to resign. Sidhu, once a Chief Minister aspirant, faced defeat from his stronghold Amritsar (East) seat.
Senior advocate Dushyant Dave, representing the family members, submitted before a bench headed by Chief Justice N.V. Ramana that on March 10, a protected witness in the case had been attacked and the state government did not file an appeal challenging the bail granted to Misra in the case.
The SAD also announced the expulsion of Kalka from the primary membership of the party, besides dissolving the party's Delhi unit. It also announced the formation of a five-member ad hoc committee headed by veteran leader Avtar Singh Hit, and comprising Harinder Singh Kaypee, Bhupinder Singh Anand, Gurdev Singh Bhola, and Ravinder Singh Khurana.
In December last year, the Supreme Court had said it expects a fair investigation and investigating agencies should be neutral, as it asked Delhi Police to conclude the probe, by December 15, in a case against Singh.
Amid a call for leadership change in the party, Congress General Secretary in-charge of Uttar Pradesh Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has called a meeting of party leaders on Tuesday to find out the reasons for the defeat. The Congress could only get just over 2 per cent votes and two seats in the Uttar Pradesh polls.
The plea argued that the high court granted bail without considering the heinous nature of the crime and also in the backdrop of overwhelming evidence against the accused in the charge sheet. The plea further argued that there is likelihood of the accused tampering with the witnesses and causing obstruction in justice.
