Rajya Sabha election: 2 poll strategists, 2 bizmen, cricketer file nominations from Punjab

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, March 21

Five candidates selected by the Aam Aadmi Party today filed their nomination papers for the five Rajya Sabha seats from Punjab.

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These are Dr Sandeep Pathak, party’s poll strategist who designed the campaign for Punjab; Raghav Chadha, co-incharge of Punjab affairs; cricketer Harbhajan Singh; and businessmen Sanjeev Arora from Ludhiana and Ashok Mittal of Lovely Professional University, Jalandhar.

The party nominees were accompanied by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann as they went to the office of Returning Officer and Secretary Vidhan Sabha Surinder Pal Singh to submit their nomination papers. No other candidate filed his paper on the last day of the election process.

Though the date of elections has been fixed for March 31, it is clear the nominees of the ruling the AAP will be elected unopposed. With this, the AAP will get eight members in the Rajya Sabha. Elections to two other Rajya Sabha seats are also due in July.

All five nominated members thanked the party and its national convener Arvind Kejriwal for reposing faith in them. Off-spinner Harbhajan Mann said he would raise the issues of Punjab’s youth in the Rajya Sabha and work towards reviving sports culture in the state.

Educationist Ashok Mittal said he would raise issues of unemployment and underemployment because of disconnect between course curriculum and industry requirements, forcing policymakers to make amends.

While the Opposition parties have created a clamour over the nominations, saying the AAP should have nominated only Punjabis from Punjab to represent the state in the Upper House, in the past too many people who were Punjabis by birth but never stayed in the state have been nominated by political parties.

“How can anybody doubt the intent of the AAP in making such a crucial decision for the state? Those who speak against the party should understand the mandate of the people of Punjab, who have chosen AAP. Dr Pathak and Raghav Chadha have been working tirelessly in Punjab for the past several years and understand the state and its issues. Also, both the Congress and Akali Dal used to nominate “outsider” Punjabis, who would never visit the state after filing their nominations, or speak in its favour,” Neel Garg, spokesperson of the party told The Tribune.

Dr Pathak, reacting to accusation of being an outsider, said the Opposition should use its energy on constructive and positive politics. “The people of Punjab have given a clear verdict in our favour,” he said.

Of the five seats, elections are to be held for two and three Rajya Sabha seats separately as these are from different biennial election cycles. The term of five sitting RS members — Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, Partap Singh Bajwa, Shwait Malik, Naresh Gujral and Shamsher Singh Dullo — will end in April.

Raghav Chadha, 33
He is credited with successfully running the AAP's poll campaign in Punjab. Claiming to be a Punjabi, with roots in Jalandhar, Chadha executed the party's poll strategy to perfection, helping it win 92 seats. Party's digital push, expose on illegal mining and poor education infra were all his brainchild. The sitting MLA from Delhi's Rajinder Nagar is the vice-chairman of the Delhi Jal Board.

Dr Sandeep Pathak, 43
The IITian has been hailed by AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal as the man who built the party’s organisational structure and designed the Punjab campaign. His team was involved in not just conducting poll surveys, but also getting feedback on candidates picked by the party and their poll prospects. Pathak is an alumnus of the University of Cambridge.

Sanjeev ‘Sunny’ Arora, 58
A businessman and philanthropist from Ludhiana, Arora runs a successful business empire, with interests in real estate, industrial, housing and commercial sectors. He also started a charitable trust in 2005, which provides free cancer treatment to the needy. During the pandemic, he was instrumental in ensuring distribution of supplies such as PPE kits and masks to patients.

Ashok Mittal, 58
One of the founders of Lovely Professional University, Jalandhar, the educationist has worked his way up. His family used to run a sweet shop in Jalandhar. He expanded the family business first in the automobile sector and later by setting up the LPU. The varsity has students from 50 countries. He is also involved in creating an ecosystem for encouraging startups.

Harbhajan Singh, 41
Awell-known cricketer, Bhajji played for the country from 1998 to 2016. The Arjuna and Padam Shri awardee has been involved in training budding cricketers in his academy, which he runs in partnership with a sports manufacturing unit. He had been toying with the idea of taking a political plunge for some time. There was even speculation of his joining the BJP and Congress.

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