Chandigarh, Mar 5 (PTI) BJP’s Sanjay Bhatia and Congress’ Karamvir Singh Boudh will file their nominations here on Thursday for the Rajya Sabha poll for the two seats falling vacant from Haryana.
On the last day of filing of nomination, the Congress announced Boudh’s name.
Boudh, a retired Haryana government employee, has also been a Dalit activist who has raised issues pertaining to the community on various platforms.
From the BJP camp, the ruling party on Tuesday announced that it has nominated its former MP from Karnal, Bhatia, for the Rajya Sabha poll from Haryana.
Boudh was an aspirant for the Congress ticket in the 2024 Haryana Assembly polls from Mullana reserve assembly segment. However, at that time the party gave the ticket to Pooja Chaudhary, wife of party’s Ambala MP Varun Chaudhary, and she went on to win the seat.
Sources said that by fielding Boudh for the RS polls, the party has tried to balance caste equations.
In the Congress’ Haryana unit, Leader of Opposition and former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda comes from the Jat community while State Congress chief Rao Narender Singh is from the OBC community.
Before announcing Boudh’s name, earlier the probable candidates whose names were doing the rounds included former Haryana Congress chief Udai Bhan.
Boudh earlier also served as chairman of the SC/ST confederation of employees.
He had also been appointed the coordinator for Dalit outreach for previous assembly elections in the state by Congress.
Boudh thanked the Congress leadership, including Rahul Gandhi, K C Venugopal and party president Mallikarjun Kharge, for the nomination.
He also thanked the state leadership, including Hooda, Kumari Selja, Birender Singh, Randeep Singh Surjewala, state unit chief Rao Narender Singh and party general secretary in-charge of Haryana B K Hariprasad.
Boudh told PTI that the party leadership has expressed their confidence in a common worker and entrusted him a big responsibility.
He said Rahul Gandhi and the entire Congress always stand with farmers, labourers, Dalits, poor and weaker sections and raise their voice.
From Haryana, two Rajya Sabha seats are falling vacant. BJP members Kiran Choudhry and Ram Chander Jangra are set to complete their terms on April 9.
In the 90-member Haryana Assembly, the ruling BJP has 48 MLAs, Congress 37, the INLD has two, while three Independents support the ruling party, with 31 votes each required for the two candidates to make it to Rajya Sabha from Haryana.
BJP’s Bhatia (58) is considered a confidant of Union Minister and former Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar.
Notifications for the polls were issued on February 26. Polling, if required, will be held on March 16 between 9 am and 4 pm, and votes will be counted from 5 pm the same day.
The last date of filing nomination is March 5. Scrutiny of nominations will be held on March 6, while the last date for the withdrawal of candidature is March 9.
According to the Election Commission’s poll schedule issued recently, 37 Rajya Sabha seats fall vacant on April 2 and 9, from 10 states, including Haryana, Maharashtra, Himachal, and Tamil Nadu.
In August 2024, Kiran Choudhry, a former minister, was elected unopposed in the Rajya Sabha bypoll from Haryana. She had joined the BJP ahead of the October 2024 assembly elections after quitting the Congress.
The bypoll was necessitated after the Congress’ Deepender Singh Hooda was elected to the Lok Sabha from Rohtak. His Rajya Sabha term was to end on April 9. PTI SUN VSD DV DV DV
This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.