Raj Babbar is Congress' RS candidate from Uttarakhand

Congress leader Raj Babbar has been declared as the Congress candidate for the Rajya Sabha seat from Uttarakhand. 

The decision by the Congress came on Monday night. Mr. Babbar will land here in the afternoon and file the papers, on Tuesday — the last day of filing nomination forms for the Rajya Sabha seat. 

Former Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna and Uttarakhand Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) president Kishore Upadhyaya were also in the race for the candidature. However, owing to the infighting within the Congress here, an “outsider” was selected by the party high-command, Congress sources here, said. 

The Rajya Sabha seat from Uttarakhand was vacated after the death of Manorama Dobriyal Sharma, who was elected to the Rajya Sabha in November, last year. The by-election for the seat will be held on March 20.