The Aam Aadmi Party’s position was strengthened in the parliament after three of the members were elected to the Upper House. AAP, the five-year-old political outfit is now seven MPs strong in the house.
The three members who are to receive a ‘Certificate of Election’ from the returning officer for the Rajya Sabha polls include Sanjay Singh, N D Gupta, and Sushil Gupta. Sanjay Singh is the trusted lieutenant of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal while N D Gupta is a Chartered Accountant and Sushil Gupta works as an educationalist.
Meanwhile, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal accused Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal of the deaths in the national capital due to severe cold. He said that the Lt Governor appointed a “useless officer” to head an urban shelter scheme without consulting his government and it was the reason behind the 44 deaths in this winter.
This being the latest flashpoint between Anil Baijal and Arvind Kejriwal as the CM has been blaming Lt Governor of scuttling all it schemes and overruling the decisions. Actually, Mr. Shurbir Singh, the CEO of the Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB), is responsible for looking after night shelters for the homeless in the city. The decision to nominate members for Upper House is not like by former AAP leaders with some accusing Kejriwal of being “corrupt” while others saying tickets were given to people “who have not distinguished themselves in public service”.
The CM may have won the battle against poet-politician Kumar Vishwas by snubbing him for a Rajya Sabha Ticket, but AAP may have to suffer by choosing two unknown faces to represent the party in the house.
The Aam Aadmi Party claims to be different from other national parties but it seems that it has fallen into the same trap by nominating people whose selection has been mired in controversy. They had also approached former RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan who had declined the offer.
Arvind Kejriwal has been accused of “selling” Rajya Sabha seats. Former AAP leader Mayank Gandhi slammed him for choosing those people with no public background and said “there is no difference between AAP and BSP. This leadership is not worth supporting”.
The Aam Admi Party’s choice of Rajya Sabha candidates has further widened the rift within the AAP party. The fault lines in the party have been exposed by denying a seat to Kumar Vishwas, the fault lines in the party have been exposed.
A founder member of AAP, Mr. Kumar Vishwas is believed to have a considerable amount of support from the party cadre as well some key functionaries. For the AAP this, not the good news that it has prided itself on being a cadre-based party, a division in ranks is not good news.
With the AAP enjoying a majority in the Legislative Assembly, all its three nominated candidates are near-certain to make it to Rajya Sabha but the choice of candidates could hurt the party in the long run.
