Raghav Chadha, two other AAP leaders sworn in as RS members
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Raghav Chadha, industrialist Sanjeev Arora and educationist Ashok Mittal took oaths as Rajya Sabha members from Punjab on Monday.
With this, AAP’S tally in the Upper House has doubled from three to six. At least two others — AAP’S election strategist Sandeep Pathak and cricketer Harbhajan Singh — are expected to take oaths in the upcoming monsoon session of the Parliament, according to party functionaries familiar with the matter.
Rajya Sabha chairperson Venkaiah Naidu administered the oaths on Monday in his chamber at Parliament House. All the three leaders were elected unopposed from Punjab in March.
Once all five nominated AAP MPS take the oath of office, the
party’s strength in the Rajya Sabha will go up to eight.
Chadha was AAP’S legislator from the Rajinder Nagar constituency in Delhi since the party’s victory in the assembly polls in February 2020. He then resigned from the post in March this year after the Arvind Kejriwal-led party won a thumping majority in the Punjab assembly polls.
“A new chapter of my life is beginning today. It’s a big day for me and my family. Today, I’m going to take oath as a Rajya Sabha MP. I’d like to thank my guru and leader Arvind Kejriwal and my big brother, Bhagwant Mann,” Chadha said.
Mittal is the founder of Phagwara-based Lovely Professional University (LPU), the first private university in the state and one of the largest in India. Arora, a businessman from Ludhiana, runs the Krishna Pran Breast Cancer Charitable Trust and is also on the governing board of Dayanand Medical College and Hospital, Ludhiana.
When asked, AAP’S Mp-elect Sandeep Pathak said he could not take the oath of office on Monday because he was travelling.