AAP could nominate Harbhajan Singh as its Rajya Sabha candidate

Former India off-spinner Harbhajan Singh could follow the footsteps of his illustrious teammate Sachin Tendulkar as a Member of Parliament in the Rajya Sabha as he is likely to be Aam Aadmi Party's (AAP) candidate for a seat in the Upper House.

AAP, after sweeping the polls in Punjab, formed the new government with Bhagwant Mann being sworn in as the Chief Minister on Wednesday.

AAP would like to send an icon from the state to the Upper House of Parliament and one of the foremost names to have emerged is that of 41-year-old off-spinner.

"The top leadership of AAP, including the new CM has approached Harbhajan with an offer to become their nominated candidate for next Rajya Sabha term. The new CM wants Harbhajan to work towards lifting the standard of sports in the state, which has gone down considerably in past few years," a source close to the cricketer told PTI on Wednesday on conditions of anonymity.

Harbhajan, who has taken over 700 wickets in an international career spanning over 18 years, recently retired from active sport.

"Harbhajan always had interested in working for people and 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 added.

Just before announcing his retirement, Harbhajan had gone to meet his former teammate and recently resigned Punjab state Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu and the picture of the two on twitter had led to speculations of him joining Congress.

However, back then in a conversation with PTI, he had categorically denied any inclination of joining the Congress party.

Harbhajan has been associated with many philanthropic projects and social work in Punjab.