The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Sunday announced prominent business figure and Padma Shri awardee Rajinder Gupta as its candidate for the Rajya Sabha from Punjab. Gupta founded the Trident Group, which deals in textile goods among other items, and features on Forbes’ list – rank 2790 of 3028 – of richest entrepreneurs, investors and heirs in the world. Gupta’s candidature has put a stop to speculations regarding the possibility of AAP convenor and former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, who had been quick to convey that he was not planning to enter Parliament just yet, or another AAP leader, Manish Sisodia, taking on the role. The move was announced after a meeting of the AAP’s Political Affairs Committee (PAC) by AAP general secretary (organisation) Sandeep Pathak. A native of Bhatinda in Punjab, Gupta will, following his expected election to the Upper House of Parliament from the AAP-ruled state, fill the sole vacancy on the party’s quota of 10 Rajya Sabha seats – three from Delhi and seven from Punjab. The seat had fallen vacant after its former occupant, Sanjeev Arora, was elected as a legislator from the Ludhiana West Assembly seat following a bypoll in June and then sworn in as Minister for Investment on the Bhagwant Mann-led cabinet. Gupta is a first-generation entrepreneur engaged in industrial ventures over the last two decades. He was awarded the Padma Shri in 2007 for exemplary work in the field of Trade and Industry.
