Chandigarh, Oct. 6 -- The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Sunday named industrialist Rajinder Gupta as its candidate for the Rajya Sabha bypoll in Punjab. Decision to field Gupta, the chairman emeritus of the Trident Group, was taken by the party's political affairs committee. "The political affairs committee of the AAP announces to nominate Rajinder Gupta as a candidate for election to the Rajya Sabha by the elected members of the legislative assembly of Punjab," said a statement. The byelection, scheduled for October 24, is being held to fill a casual vacancy in the Upper House created by the resignation of businessman-turned-politician Sanjeev Arora on July 1. Arora, who was elected to the Rajya Sabha in April 2022, stepped down after being elected to the state legislative assembly from the Ludhiana West constituency in a bypoll. His Rajya Sabha term was to end on April 9, 2028. If Gupta wins, he will serve the remainder of the term. Gupta recently resigned as the vice-chairman of the State Economic Policy and Planning Board, a post he held since 2022, and as chairperson of the Sri Kali Devi Temple Advisory Committee. With AAP having a majority of 93 members in the 117-strong state assembly, Gupta appears set to enter the Rajya Sabha. After Arora was fielded from the Ludhiana West seat, speculation, fuelled by the opposition, arose that AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal, who lost his assembly seat in Delhi, might be sent to the Upper House from Punjab. Kejriwal, however, dismissed the speculation, saying he was not interested in seeking a Rajya Sabha berth. Punjab sends seven members to the Rajya Sabha. At present, AAP has six members - Sandeep Pathak, Raghav Chadha, Balbir Singh Seechewal, Harbhajan Singh, Vikramjit Singh Sahney and Ashok Kumar Mittal....