Ex cricketer Harbhajan Singh, IIT professor Sandeep Pathak, educationist Ashok Kumar Mittal and Delhi MLA Raghav Chadha are the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)'s nominees for Rajya Sabha or the upper house of parliament from Punjab, where the party won a gigantic victory in recent elections.
Five Rajya Sabha seats will fall vacant on April 9 and names have to be submitted today for elections on March 31.
Harbhajan Singh, 41, filed his nomination as an AAP candidate and was seen in a yellow turban, inspired by Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann seated next to him.
"After making India Proud as a bowling legend, Mr. Turbanator is now going to raise his voice for the people of Punjab in Parliament," AAP tweeted, sharing a video.
Harbhajan Singh had met with former Punjab Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu before the elections, fuelling speculation of his debut in politics as a Congress member. But the former cricketer had denied it.
AAP won 92 of Punjab's 117 assembly seats. After the Rajya Sabha election, AAP's strength in the upper house is set to increase from three to eight.
The Congress lost the Punjab election, and so did Mr Sidhu and several other high profile party candidates.
Sandeep Pathak, a professor of Physics at the premier IIT (Indian Institute of Technology), is seen to be instrumental in AAP's rise and victory in Punjab. He is believed to be close to AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal and Bhagwant Mann, who took over as Chief Minister of Punjab's new AAP government last week.
Sources say Professor Pathak stayed in Punjab for three years for poll preps and built AAP's organisation at the booth-level.
Senior AAP leader Raghav Chadha is an MLA in the Delhi assembly and one of the party's top leaders.
"My leader Arvind Kejriwal and my big brother Bhagwant Mann have shown such confidence in me and have given me a big responsibility at such a young age. I hope I will be able to meet their expectations," Mr Chadha told reporters after filing his papers.
Ashok Kumar Mittal is the founder of Lovely Professional University, and is described by the party as a renowned academician and social activist.
Senior AAP leader Raghav Chadha is an MLA in the Delhi assembly and one of the party's top leaders. At 33, he will also be the youngest Rajya Sabha member.
“My leader Arvind Kejriwal and my big brother Bhagwant Mann have shown such confidence in me and have given me a big responsibility at such a young age. I hope I will be able to meet their expectations,” Mr Chadha told reporters after filing his papers.
Ashok Kumar Mittal is the founder of Lovely Professional University, and is described by the party as a renowned academician and social activist.
Sanjeev Arora is a Ludhiana-based businessman known for his cancer charities.
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