Former cricketer Harbhajan Singh is likely to be nominated to Rajya Sabha from Punjab by the new Aam Aadmi Party government led by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann. Though the development is not yet confirmed, sources in know have said that Harbhajan is also keen to go to the upper house of the Parliament and the final decision will be made by Delhi CM and AAP convenor Arvind Kejriwal. The former off-spinner may be given charge of a new sports university in Jalandhar, which Mr Mann had promised to set up during the campaign for the elections held last month. The new Chief Minister has promised to make promoting sports a priority.
"The top leadership of AAP, including the new Chief Minister, has approached Harbhajan Singh with an offer to become their nominated candidate for next Rajya Sabha term. The new Chief Minister wants Harbhajan to work for lifting the standards of sports in the state, which has gone down considerably in past few years," news agency PTI reported quoting an unnamed person who is close to the former cricketer." Harbhajan was always interested in working for the people, especially for the benefit and betterment of sportspersons. If an opportunity arises, he would love to take up the responsibility as he has always shared cordial relationship with Bhagwant Mann," the source told PTI. On March 14, notification was issued for the election of five Rajya Sabha members from Punjab and March 21 is the last date to file the nomination papers. Meanwhile, AAP has won 92 seats of the total 117 in the Punjab Assembly, hence, it is certain that only AAP members will be elected to the Rajya Sabha on all the seats. Voting will be held in two phases (first for three seats and then for two seats) for the five Rajya Sabha seats from Punjab. The session of the Punjab Legislative Assembly is also starting from Thursday and an oath will be administered to all the MLAs. After this, all the MLAs will be able to vote for the election of Rajya Sabha members on March 31.
