The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has fielded its Rajya Sabha member Sanjeev Arora for the upcoming Punjab Assembly bypoll in Ludhiana West. The seat fell vacant last month following the accidental death of AAP MLA Gurpreet Gogi.
Mr Arora, elected to the Rajya Sabha from Punjab in 2022, will have to resign from the Upper House if he wins the bypoll.
This has fuelled talk that AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal, who lost his Delhi assembly membership after his recent electoral defeat, could be nominated to replace him. The party has denied such a possibility.
Who is Sanjeev Arora?
Sanjeev Arora, 61, completed his Bachelor of Commerce from SCD Government College, Ludhiana, which is affiliated with Punjab University, Chandigarh.
His father, Pran Arora, founded a garment and knitwear business, which later evolved into Ritesh Properties and Industries Limited (RPIL). Under Sanjeev Arora's leadership, RPIL expanded into real estate, housing, industrial, and commercial projects.
In 2006, he rebranded the company as Hampton Sky Realty Limited (HSRL), which is now listed on the BSE with a market capitalisation of Rs 900 crore. Under this, he developed Hampton Business Park and Hampton Homes on Chandigarh Road, Ludhiana. Around 70 industries are currently part of this project. Mr Arora has been running his export business, Ritesh Industries Ltd, for over three decades. His company primarily exports goods to the USA and has an office in Virginia. He is now the Chairman and Managing Director of RPIL.
After losing his mother to breast cancer, Mr Arora established the Krishna Pran Breast Cancer Charitable Trust in 2005. The trust provides free treatment to cancer patients, and his father, who later succumbed to cancer, was also a strong inspiration behind this initiative.
In 2018, former Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh honoured Mr Arora with a state award for his philanthropic efforts. By then, his trust had helped treat over 100 cancer patients.
In 2018, he launched the women's wear brand Femella, which is available on Myntra, Reliance AJio, Tata Cliq and Nykaa.
In 2019, he entered the non-ferrous metal industry with Teneron Limited, which has a tie-up with Suzuki Motors' Gujarat plant under the Make in India initiative.
He is a governing board member of Dayanand Medical College & Hospital, a member of the Apex Council of Punjab Cricket Association, and part of the Ved Mandir Trust, Daresi, Punjab.
He was elected to the Rajya Sabha in 2022.
AAP currently has seven Rajya Sabha members from Punjab - Sandeep Pathak, Raghav Chadha, former cricketer Harbhajan Singh, Ashok Mittal, environmentalist Balbir Singh Seechewal, industrialist Vikramjit Singh, and Mr Arora.
