Chandigarh: Former president of the Haryana BJP Subhash Barala, 56, who was the sole candidate for the single Rajya Sabha seat from the state was declared elected to the Upper House unopposed here on Tuesday.
The notification for the said election was issued on February 8 and polling (if required) was to take place on February 27 and the last date of withdrawal of candidature was February 20.
Of the total five Rajya Sabha seats and on April 2, the six-year term of the incumbent and BJP’s Rajya Sabha member Lt Gen D P Vats would come to an end.
Barala's election to the Rajya Sabha was clear right from the beginning as he was the only candidate and the BJP has 41 legislators and support of 10 MLAs of its alliance Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) and six independent members in the House of 90 members – as per the poll formula, a candidate for one seat from Haryana need 46 votes to win.
Barala had lost twice before winning his first election from Tohana seat in 2014 and remained a close aide of Khattar, since. However, he had to face major political trouble because of a case of alleged stalking of a DJ in Chandigarh involving his son Vikas Barala, then a law student at Kurukshetra University. However, Khattar supported him despite raging controversy and a police case against his son.
