AAP nominates Delhi MLA Raghav Chadha, ex cricketer Harbhajan Singh and 3 others for RS from Punjab

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has nominated five members comprising Raghav Chadha, AAP Delhi MLA, former cricketer Harbhajan Singh, Sandeep Pathak, a teacher of IIT Delhi, Ashik Mittal, Chancellor of Lovely Professional University, Phagwara and Sanjeev Arora for the Rajya Sabha seats from Punjab.

Of the five, the AAP has picked two non-Punjabis -Pathak and Chadha- for the Rajya Sabha seats from Punjab.

An assistant Professior in IIT, Delhi, Pathak belongs to Chhattisgarh and is AAP's main strategist who has helped the party during Punjab polls from behind the scenes. Raghav Chadha was recently the Punjab in-charge of the party, and is vice-chairman of the Delhi Jal Board while Sanjeev Arora is a Ludhiana based businessman.

All the nominations were filed on Monday (the last day for filing the nominations) by the AAP that won the state Assembly elections with a thumping majority by winning 92 out of 117 seats. No other political party has filed any nomination papers. Elections for these Rajya Sabha seats will be held on March 31.

The five seats will fall vacant on April 9 when the term of the current MPs Pratap Singh Bajwa and Shamsher Singh Dullo from the Congress, Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa and Naresh Gujral from the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), and Shwait Malik from the BJP will expire.

A majority of the MLAs from Congress and Shiromani Akali DAl raised objections over AAPs decision to nominate non-Punjabis for the Rajya Sabha seat ignoring those belonging to Punjab and well aware of the problems of state people.

Senior Congress MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira tweeted: "If this list of probable Rajya Sabha candidates by @AamAadmiParty is true, its most saddening news for Punjab n will be the first discrimination for our state. We’ll oppose tooth n nail any non Punjabi being nominated. This is also a joke with AAP workers who have worked for the party”.

"Friends, I request @BhagwantMann to implement his idea as how to honour valuable people like Bibi Khalra who have been victims of police brutality and have made great sacrifices for Punjab by making them Rajya Sabha members." the tweet reads.