AAP to take call on Rajya Sabha nominations next week
Among the names floating within the party circles included senior leaders Ashutosh and Sanjay Singh, both insiders
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is still exploring names of candidates for three Rajya Sabha seats in Delhi even as the last date for filing nominations on January 5 comes closer.
With several fresh names floating within and outside the party circles, the Arvind Kejriwal-led party said the final call would be taken by the Political Affairs Committee (PAC), the highest decision-making body, that is scheduled to meet earlier next week.
Among the names floating within the party circles included senior leaders Ashutosh and Sanjay Singh, both insiders. As for outsiders, the party, has already approached many prominent personalities including RBI governor Raghuram Rajan, former Union ministers Yashwant Sinha and Arun Shourie, who, according to sources, have turned down the offer. The fresh name in the list of people is former chief justice of India TS Thakur.
“He (Thakur) wanted some more time. But, the party said it could not wait as only few days are left for filing nominations,” said a source within the party.
The elections for electing three Rajya Sabha members from Delhi would be held on January 16 as terms of the incumbent members Dr Karan Singh, Janardan Dwivedi and Parvez Hashmi — representing Congress party — would expire on January 27. The ruling AAP, which holds a majority (66) in the 70-member Delhi Assembly, is all set to win all the three seats.
A senior party leader, who did not want to be named, said the three candidates would be a mix of an insider and outsiders. But, he said, the party is deliberately not disclosing the names to avoid any internal rifts. “No one in the party knows the final names. The names would be finalised in the PAC. It may be two outsiders and one insider,” the leader said.
What seems certain, however, is that the leader Kumar Vishwas will not be nominated. A group of Vishwas’ supporters, who were called BJP agents by the party, barged inside the party office at Deen Dayal Upadhyay Marg on Friday demanding their leader be picked for the upper house. The group left the office after Vishwas’s appeal on twitter in the evening.
Another speculation doings rounds was that of chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, which all party leaders have denied so far.
