AAP workers hail Sanjay Singh, shrug off Guptas

Resentment in the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) over the selection of Rajya Sabha candidates has come out in the open. 

On Wednesday, the party named three candidates – Sanjay Singh, ND Gupta and Sushil Gupta – for the Upper House but only Singh’s selection is being lauded by party workers and supporters.

This was evident in a very small yet extremely important incident which took place on the day of filing of candidature. All three candidates filed their nomination on Thursday, however, the treatment to each was different.

At noon, a truck hoisting a public address system was stationed in front of the AAP office in Delhi, while party supporters danced to Bollywood’s patriotic numbers. “We are celebrating Sanjay Singh’s nomination to the Rajya Sabha,” an AAP supporter said.

Soon, Singh along with AAP national spokesperson Ashutosh Gupta, met the supporters – including those from Punjab. “Sanjay Singh zindabad” and “Bharat Mata Ki Jai” slogans were raised inside the party office. Minutes later, the AAP veteran boarded the truck along with Ashutosh, who had failed to clinch the nomination. But the two Guptas were missing.

They were neither given a grand welcome by the party nor did they board the truck to address the party workers as in the case of Singh. This was a symbolic message in itself – that discomfort over the new faces continues in AAP.

Notably, even when Singh left with the cavalcade to file his nomination papers at the district magistrate’s office in Daryaganj, the two Guptas stayed inside the rooms of the party office.

“We support only Singh’s candidature. Though we are not happy with the Guptas being selected for the Rajya Sabha, we have to back the party’s decision,” said a worker who has been part of CM Arvind Kejriwal’s front since the anti-graft movement days.

Similarly, another member who was part of Wednesday’s decision-making process, remained tight-lipped on the nomination of the two Guptas. “The party has taken the final call in this matter and we have to support it,” was all he said.

Interestingly, even though only one female legislator had openly opposed the selection of Sushil Gupta and ND Gupta, they was hardly anyone celebrating their candidature.

ND Gupta can still be considered a party insider as he manages the AAP’s financial affairs. “I have been associated with the party for the past several years. I will raise issues related to demonetisation and taxation in the House,” the former president of Institute of Chartered Accountants of India said, as he left to file his nomination papers.

On the other hand, Sushil Gupta is someone who was with the Delhi Congress till November 28. The opposition parties exploited this opportunity to aggressively attack the AAP.

BJP MP Parvesh Verma even claimed that Kejriwal had sold the two Upper House tickets to the Guptas for Rs 100 crore.

Sushil Gupta runs a chain of schools in Delhi and Haryana and had unsuccessfully contested on a Congress ticket from Delhi’s Moti Nagar Assembly constituency in 2013. Back then, in his affidavit, he had declared assets of worth Rs 164 crore.

The AAP, after fielding Sushil Gupta as one of its Rajya Sabha candidates, had claimed he was shortlisted because of his contribution to education and health in Delhi and Haryana.

While Singh went to file his nomination in a grand manner, this Gupta was left alone. He was surrounded by reporters while he was looking for his car outside the party office. The AAP tried to keep his interaction with the media as limited as possible.

The obvious reason is the line of questions awaiting this Delhi-based businessman and soon-to-be AAP’s voice in the Upper House. Speaking to the media, Gupta said he was impressed by the AAP government’s work in the education and health sector, such as the experiment of mohalla clinics.

AAP has fought two Assembly elections, one general election and civic body polls since 2013. What stopped Gupta – he didn’t sound convincing while speaking about the issues that he might raise in the Rajya Sabha – from joining the party all these years remains a mystery.