AAP’s Political Affairs Committee on Friday nominated senior party member and head of the Delhi Commission for Women, Swati Maliwal, for the January 19 Rajya Sabha elections in Delhi. The election of new Rajya Sabha MPs from Delhi will take place on January 19, as the terms of three current members are coming to an end this month. Sanjay Singh, Sushil Kumar Gupta, and Narain Dass Gupta are the three members who will be retiring on January 27. But Sushil Kumar Gupta has stated his intention to shift his focus to Haryana’s electoral politics, and both ND Gupta and imprisoned senior leader Sanjay Singh will be re-nominated, the party said.
ND Gupta is the party treasurer and Sushil Gupta is the AAP President of the Haryana unit. The state is expected to go to polls later this year.
“Chaired by AAP National Convenor Arvind Kejriwal, the committee decided to endorse two existing members for re-nomination, whereas Sushil Kumar Gupta expressed his intent to redirect his focus towards the electoral politics of Haryana,” the party said.
Swati Maliwal is a women’s rights activist and the current Chairperson of the Delhi Commission for Women (DCW). Before joining DCW, Maliwal worked as the advisor to the Chief Minister of Delhi on public grievances. Maliwal was a core member of the Indian Against Corruption movement.
Maliwal has been linked to a number of campaigns and movements that support gender equality, call for tougher legislation, and fight violence against women. Meanwhile, party leader Sanjay Singh was permitted to sign re-nomination paperwork from jail on Thursday by a Delhi court. Leading Aam Aadmi Party figure Sanjay Singh was detained by the Enforcement Directorate on October 4, 2023, on suspicion of money laundering in connection with the Excise policy case.