41 newly elected Rajya Sabha members take oath
As many as 41 newly-elected members, including several Union Ministers among the 18 who have been re-elected, to the Rajya…
With no other candidate filing nomination for the lone Rajya Sabha (RS) seat from Haryana, ruling Bhartiya Janata Party’s Rajya Sabha candidate Lieutenant General (retired) DP Vats is all set to get elected unopposed.
Monday was the last date of filing nominations for the RS seat being vacated by Congress member Shadi Lal Batra.
Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar made an announcement to this effect during the ongoing budget session of the Assembly, after the 3 pm deadline for filing of nominations was over. He said Vats’s election to the RS was certain since no one was in contention, but a formal announcement would be made only by the Election Commission. Introducing Vats, who was present in the visitors’ gallery, to the members of the House, Khattar said he was sure he would raise the issues of Haryana’s interest in the Upper House.
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Earlier, 67-year-old Vats was accompanied by CM Khattar, his Cabinet colleagues including Ram Bilas Sharma and Abhimanyu, and BJP legislators from the state when he filed his nomination papers.
A resident of Hisar, Vats had also served as director and commandant of the prestigious Armed Forces Medical College, Pune. He also served as chairman of the Haryana Public Service Commission between May 2011 and April 2012 during the Bhupinder Singh Hooda-led Congress government in the state.
“By training and conviction, a soldier is a nationalist,” he told reporters before filing his papers. Vats said once elected he would raise issues of national importance and never indulge in any kind of petty politics. The former Armyman said he belonged to a family of farmers and had even played a role in “creating modern outlook of the Khaps (or caste councils)”.
“I also appeal to all to strengthen the hands of the BJP which is a symbol of the country’s development, and give majority to the party in next elections as well to help maintain the momentum of growth,” Vats said.
With 47 members of legislative Assembly (MLAs) in the 90-member House, the BJP was set to win the seat comfortably. The INLD has 19 members, the Congress 17, the BSP and the SAD one each. There are five independents.
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