Chandigarh : Congress leader Birender Singh and Indian National Lok Dal's Ranbir Singh Gangua were on Saturday elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha from Haryana.
Returning Officer Sumit Kumar declared the two elected to the Upper House after the deadline for withdrawal of nominations ended at 3 PM.
Birender Singh, a former minister and known critic of Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, had been lying low since his defeat to INLD chief and former Haryana Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala in 2009 assembly elections in Uchana Kalan constituency in Jind district. INLD had chosen 45-year-old Gangua, a Backward Class leader, as its nominee.
Gangua, who is INLD's Hisar district unit chief, had unsuccessfully contested the 2009 state assembly elections against Congress' Sampat Singh. The two seats from Haryana had fallen vacant due to completion of the term of Tarlochan Singh and resignation of Ajay Singh Chautala (INLD) who was elected from Dabwali assembly constituency. PTI
