In addition to Sanjay Singh and Narain Dass Gupta, Swati Maliwal, the chairman of the Delhi Commission for Women (DCW), has also been nominated for a second term.
AAP leader and National Convenor Arvind Kejriwal oversaw the decision-making process during the party’s Political Affairs Committee (PAC) meeting on Friday.
Why is this story important?
In 2024, there would be a minimum of 69 open Rajya Sabha seats, with 56 of those seats falling in April, right before the Lok Sabha elections.
Elections to fill four Rajya Sabha seats—three from Delhi and one from Sikkim—have already been announced by the Election Commission of India (ECI).
Recall that Hishey Lachungpa (Sikkim Democratic Front) will finish his term on February 23 while Singh, Narain, and Sushil Gupta (all AAP) will conclude their six-year terms on January 27.
Maliwal’s advocacy and Singh’s renown in prison
2015 saw the election of activist Maliwal as DCW chairperson. After the AAP nominated her, she resigned from her position as DCW.
However, a Delhi court permitted Singh, who is incarcerated at the moment due to the Delhi liquor policy scandal, to compete in the Rajya Sabha elections.
He was a strong opponent of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in the Upper House, according to the AAP, which claims he was detained in a “fake” case.
Sushil wants to go back into electoral politics in Haryana.
Maliwal will take Sushil’s seat. It is stated that he has conveyed his intention to focus on the electoral politics of Haryana.
According to individuals who spoke with The Indian Express, he expressed his ambition to the party leadership, which acknowledged and respected his choice to go down this route.
The deadline for submitting nominations for the Rajya Sabha was set by the ECI at January 9; the nominations will be scrutinized on January 10.
There are 239 members of Parliament’s Upper House.
There are 239 members of the Upper House of Parliament. After the BJP with 94 seats, the Congress with 30 and the Trinamool Congress with 13 seats each.
The Congress will hold onto its seats and pick up two more from Telangana, which it took from the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) in the assembly elections, while the BJP is predicted to retain 30 seats that will become vacant in April.
April will mark the end of the terms for up to 57 officials, including Ashwini Vaishnaw, the minister of railways.