Chandigarh, Jan 31 (IANS) Former union minister Kumari Selja of the Congress and Ram Kumar of the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) were elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha from Haryana Friday, an assembly official said.
Two Rajya Sabha seats from the state will fall vacant April 9 this year as the terms of sitting members Ram Prakash and Ishwar Singh (both Congress) will come to an end.
“Ram Kumar of Indian National Lok Dal and Kumari Selja of Congress have been elected unopposed in biennial election of the Rajya Sabha to fill two seats from Haryana,” the returning officer of the Haryana assembly said after announcing the result.
Selja, a known detractor of Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, had resigned as union minister for social justice and poverty alleviation earlier this week to file her nomination for the Rajya Sabha seat. The Congress ticket to her at the last minute came as a surprise to party leaders, especially the Hooda faction which was pushing for its own candidates.
Selja was elected to the Lok Sabha from the Ambala (reserved) Lok Sabha seat in Haryana in the 2009 general elections.