The three candidates nominated by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) — Swati Maliwal, N.D. Gupta, and Sanjay Singh — for the upper house of Parliament, filed their nominations on Monday.
The party had on January 5 announced its decision to renominate Mr. Singh and Mr. Gupta, and field the Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) chairperson for the three Rajya Sabha seats from Delhi, for which elections will be held on January 19. Following the announcement, Ms. Maliwal resigned as the DCW chief. The six-year tenures of Mr. Singh and Mr. Gupta end on January 27.
Mr. Singh, who is currently in judicial custody in the Delhi excise policy case, was brought before the returning officer under police protection after a court here on Saturday permitted him to file the nomination personally, provided that he does not address a public gathering. His wife, Anita Singh, who was present by his side, said the senior AAP leader was happy to see party workers showing up in his support. She said the party’s national convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who was like an elder brother to Mr. Singh, had reposed faith in her husband by nominating him for a Rajya Sabha seat again.
“This must be the first time someone came from jail to file their Rajya Sabha nomination,” she added.
Ms. Singh also filed her nomination as a dummy candidate for AAP. Party sources said two dummy candidates had filed their nominations and that they would withdraw their candidatures later. Parties often field dummy candidates to ensure that at least one candidate from the party makes it to the election if the nominations of the others are rejected for some reason.
Speaking to mediapersons after filing her nomination, Ms. Maliwal said she had, as the DCW chief, spoken up for women from the streets of Delhi and would do the same in Parliament after getting elected.
All three AAP nominees are set to be elected without any hiccups, as the party enjoys a brute majority in the Delhi Assembly.
