The Congress on Thursday named former party chiefs in Punjab Partap Singh Bajwa and Shamsher Singh Dullo as its candidates for the biennial election to the Rajya Sabha from the state.
"Former Pradesh Congress chiefs Partap Singh Bajwa and Shamsher Singh Dullo will be the party candidates for the Rajya Sabha polls," Congress general secretary Shakeel Ahmed told IANS.
He said the names had been approved by Congress president Sonia Gandhi.
The terms of two Congress members of Rajya Sabha Ashwani Kumar and M.S. Gill will end next month.
Bajwa had last year made way for former chief minister Amarinder Singh to head the Punjab unit. Dullo belongs to the Dalit community which has sizeable presence in the state.
The Election Commission had last month announced biennial elections to fill 13 seats in the Rajya Sabha, five of which are from Punjab. The date of polling is March 21.
AKALI DAL NOMINATES DHINDSA, GUJRAL FOR RAJYA SABHA
Punjab's ruling Shiromani Akali Dal on Tuesday announced that former union minister Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa and Rajya Sabha MP Naresh Gujral will be its candidates for the forthcoming Rajya Sabha elections in the state.
Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal declared that party's secretary general Dhindsa and Gujral, the son of former prime minister I.K. Gujral, will be the candidates.
Akali Dal secretary and spokesman Daljit Singh Cheema said that both leaders will file their nomination papers on Wednesday. Election for the Rajya Sabha seats will take place on March 21.
