The Political Affairs Committee (PAC) of the Aam Aadmi Party is likely to finalise three Rajya Sabha candidates on Wednesday. Only Sanjay Singh is believed to have emerged as the sole consensus candidate while a number of prominent names within the party are vying for the other two slots.
According to a party functionary, chartered accountant ND Gupta and businessman Sushil Gupta’s names are doing the rounds, however a final call will be taken by the PAC on Wednesday.
“There are capable leaders like Ashutosh, Atishi (Marlena), Pankaj Gupta, Meera Sanyal and Ashish Khetan in the party. It is quite natural that there will be some heartburn if one is picked over others. So nothing can be said for sure even at this point,” the AAP functionary said on the condition of anonymity.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his deputy Manish Sisodia, who came back from the Andamans after a short break, are likely to meet party MlAs to seek their views before the PAC meeting.
Singh, Marlena, Ashutosh are full-time members of the PAC, while Pankaj Gupta and Raghav Chadha are its ex-officio members. Meanwhile, Gujarat Patidar agitation leader Hardik Patel added twist to the tale by publicly batting for disgruntled AAP founder Kumar Vishwas’ candidature, saying he is best suited to take on “fake nationalists”.
“If there is someone who can silence the fake nationalists in Parliament, then it is Kumar Vishwas but wonder who in the party is so insecure of his standing that he is hell bent on destroying the party,” Patel tweeted.
Vishwas, who is also a leader of the AAP’s PAC, had openly expressed his desire for a nomination to the Upper House of Parliament but subsequently had a bitter fallout with the party’s top leadership.
Earlier, the party had contacted around 18 eminent personalities from different walks of life, including former RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan, former Union Minister Arun Shourie, ex-Chief Justice of India TS Thakur and names from the world of cinema.
“But they are hesitant due to the political atmosphere in the country. They fear vindictive action by the Centre upon associating with the AAP,” another leader said.
Elections to three Rajya Sabha seats from Delhi would be held on January 16. The AAP, which enjoys a brute majority in the 70-member Delhi Assembly, is set to win all the three seats.
The last date to file nominations for the three Rajya Sabha seats is January 5.