AAP candidates Seechewal, Sahney elected unopposed to Rajya Sabha from Punjab

CHANDIGARH: AAP candidates noted environmentalist Balbir Singh Seechewal and entrepreneur-social activist Vikramjit Singh Sahney have been elected unopposed to Rajya Sabha from Punjab, an official said Friday.

Friday was the last day for the withdrawal of candidature for June 10 polls and no candidates took back their names till 3 pm.

Seechewal and Sahney have been declared winners unopposed, Returning Officer-cum-Secretary, Punjab Vidhan Sabha, Surinder Pal said.

The Aam Aadmi Party had nominated Seechewal and Sahney for the two Rajya Sabha seats from the state.

The term of Rajya Sabha members from Punjab Ambika Soni (Congress) and Balwinder Singh Bhunder (Shiromani Akali Dal) is due to expire on July 4.

The last day for filling the nominations was May 31 while the scrutiny of nominations was done on June 1.

Seechewal is known for his efforts to clean the 160-km long holy rivulet Kali Bein rivulet in Kapurthala's Sultanpur Lodhi.

Sikhs believe that Guru Nanak Dev, the founder of Sikhism, got enlightenment after taking a dip in Kali Bein.

Seechewal's work was also applauded by the late President APJ Abdul Kalam who visited him at his village Seechewal twice.

Known as 'Eco Baba', he was hailed as one of the top 30 'Heroes of the Environment' in the world by Times Magazine.

Vikramjit Singh Sahney is an entrepreneur, philanthropist and social activist.

He is the international president of the World Punjabi Organisation which is functional in 22 countries with an aim to foster social, economic and cultural bonds.

Sahney had helped in evacuating 500 Afghan Hindus and Sikhs by sending three chartered flights at his own expense to Kabul in Afghanistan after its Taliban takeover.

He had also coordinated with various ministries like External Affairs for their immediate evacuation.

In March, the AAP had nominated former cricketer Harbhajan Singh, AAP leader Raghav Chadha, Lovely Professional University founder Ashok Mittal, former IIT Delhi faculty Sandeep Pathak and industrialist Sanjeev Arora for Rajya Sabha.

They all were elected unopposed.