
New Delhi: AamAadmiParty has made its entry into the RajyaSabhawith all three of its candidates - billionaire businessman Sushil Gupta, party functionary Sanjay Singh and chartered accountant ND Gupta - winning the election unopposed.
Since there were only three candidates for the three seats from Delhi, they were declared winners eight days before the election was scheduled to take place. AAP has a brute majority in Delhi assembly and the opposition BJP did not have enough numbers to even put up a candidate.
Earlier, election commission cleared the nomination of ND Gupta after Delhi Congress chief Ajay Maken claimed that Gupta was holding an office of profit.
Sushil Gupta displayed his strength in a road-show in which all three candidates arrived at the office of the deputy commission Daryaganj where they were given victory certificates. Though all three candidates participated in the road-show, all the placards carried by the volunteers had the photograph of only Sushil Gupta and the flags had the picture of CM ArvindKejriwal.
Till now, the Guptas are not well-known in political circles but AAP has claimed both have impressive profiles. 72-year-old ND Gupta is a former president of Institute of Chartered Accountants of India and member of the Board of International Federation of Accountants (USA) and has been helping the party in its fight with the income tax department and to manage its accounts.
56-year-old Sushil Gupta is a businessman and social activist who declared assets worth Rs 170 crore in his election affidavit. He runs various educational institutions located in Delhi, Haryana and Punjab besides several hospitals.
With AAP since its inception, 46-year-old Sanjay Singh is in charge of party's UP and Bihar units and also a PAC member. A mechanical engineer by training, Singh has been active in social work for more than two decades. He got in touch with ArvindKejriwal during the RTI movement and the relation deepened during the anti-corruption movement. He was in-charge of party's Punjab unit during the assembly elections in early 2017 where the party won 20 seats.