New Delhi: Aam Aadmi Party on Wednesday announced three Rajya Sabha nominees namely Sanjay Singh who had earlier emerged as a sole consensus. The other two names are ND Gupta, who is a city-based Chartered accountant and Sushil Gupta, who is a businessman.  

The same sidelined the names of senior party leaders Kumar Vishwas and Ashutosh.

Singh, Marlena, Ashutosh are full-time members of the PAC while Gupta and Chadha are its ex-officio members.

Meanwhile, Gujarat Patidar agitation leader Hardik Patel gave a curious twist to the issue by publicly batting for disgruntled AAP founder Kumar Vishwas's candidature, saying he was best suited to take on "fake nationalists".

"If there is someone who can silence the fake nationalists in the Parliament, then it is Kumar Vishwas but wonder who in the party is so insecure of his standing that he is hell bent on destroying the party," Patel tweeted.

Reacting to Patel's tweet, suspended AAP MLA Kapil Mishra said, "In the entire AAP, only Kumar (Vishwas) can talk to Hardik. Last time, when Ashutosh went to meet Hardik, he had declined to meet him. So Kumar must have spoken to him."

Vishwas, who is also a leader of the AAP's PAC, had openly expressed his desire for a nomination to the upper house of Parliament but subsequently had a bitter fall out with the party's top leadership.

Earlier, the party had contacted around 18 eminent personalities from different walks of life including former RBI governor Raghuram Rajan, former union minister Arun Shourie, ex-Chief Justice of India T S Thakur and names from the world of cinema.

"But they are hesitant due to the political atmosphere in the country. They fear vindictive action by the Centre upon associating with the AAP," another leader said.

Elections to three Rajya Sabha seats from Delhi would be held on January 16. The AAP, which enjoys a brute majority in the 70-member Delhi Assembly, is set to win all the three seats.

The last date to file nominations for the three Rajya Sabha seats is January 5.