BJP Haryana ex-chief Subhash Barala gets Rajya Sabha nomination

Deepender Deswal

Hisar, February 11

Former state BJP president Subhash Barala (56) has been nominated by the party for the one seat in Rajya Sabha (RS) elections of Haryana. The seat fell vacant following the completion of tenure of BJP MP Lt General (retired) DP Vats.

Barala, who is serving as the Chairman of the Haryana Bureau of Public Enterprises, is a close confidant of Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar. Though there was hectic lobbying for the seat nomination as various names were doing the rounds in party circles, the insiders said Barala’s name was finalised due to multiple factors.

Key dates

• Feb 15 Last day for filing nomination
• Feb 16 Scrutiny of nomination papers
• Feb 20 Last date for withdrawals
• Feb 27 Polling and counting of votes

A former MLA (2014-19) from Tohana Assembly segment in Fatehabad district, Barala has served as state president from 2014 to 2020. He lost the 2019 Assembly polls to JJP’s Devender Singh Babli. Sources said that Babli, who is a minister in the BJP-JJP government, has announced to re-contest from Tohana.

“Both Barala and Babli have been political rivals in Tohana. The nomination of Barala for Rajya Sabha could also resolve the issue of candidature in the next Assembly polls,” said a BJP leader.

Sources said that Barala was also one of the contenders for the Lok Sabha ticket from Hisar constituency. “As he belongs to the Jat community, the party tried to balance the caste equations in Haryana. After awarding the Bharat Ratna to former PM Charan Singh, who is also an honourable figure in the Jat community, Barala’s nomination ahead of the Lok Sabha and Assembly polls is another gesture to appease the Jats in Haryana,” commented a political expert.