Selja Kumari (born 24 September 1962) is an Indian politician and former parliamentarian. A member of the

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British E ...

, she has been the Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment and

Tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tours. The World Tourism Organization defines tourism mor ...

in the Government of India during Manmohan Singh's premiership. Selja was first elected to the

Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha, constitutionally the House of the People, is the lower house of India's bicameral Parliament, with the upper house being the Rajya Sabha. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by an adult universal suffrage and a first-p ...

in 1991 from

Sirsa Sirsa is a city and a municipal council in Sirsa district in the westernmost region of the Indian state of Haryana, bordering Punjab and Rajasthan. It is located in Thar desert. It is located 250 kilometres north-west of New Delhi and 260 kilome ...

, a constituency that she retained in the 1996 elections. Following her election to the

15th Lok Sabha Members of the 15th Lok Sabha were elected during the 2009 general election in India. It was dissolved on 18 May 2014 by President Pranab Mukherjee. Indian National Congress-led United Progressive Alliance won 44 more seats than the previou ...

from

Ambala Ambala () is a city and a municipal corporation in Ambala district in the state of Haryana, India, located on the border with the Indian state of Punjab and in proximity to both states capital Chandigarh. Politically, Ambala has two sub-are ...

, she was appointed the Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment. It was during this period that Selja worked to furthering the cause of

women's rights Women's rights are the rights and entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st centuries. In some countries, ...

as well as the rights of marginalised communities in India. Selja unsuccessfully contested the general elections in 2019 from Ambala, and following that made a return to state politics, being elected the president of the Haryana unit of the Congress party later that year. She was a member of the

Rajya Sabha The Rajya Sabha, constitutionally the Council of States, is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of India. , it has a maximum membership of 245, of which 233 are elected by the legislatures of the states and union territories using si ...

from 2014 to 2020.

Early life

Selja Kumari was born on 24 September 1962 in Parbhuwala Hisar to Chaudhary Dalbir Singh, who was a politician from the

. She studied at the Convent of Jesus and Mary, New Delhi and later attended the

Panjab University Panjab University (PU) is a collegiate public state university located in Chandigarh, Punjab. Funded through both State and Union governments, it is considered a state university. It traces its origins to the University of the Punjab in Laho ...

, where she completed

master's A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

and an postgraduate degree.

Political career

Early career and electoral debut (1990–2003)

Selja began her political career in the Mahila Congress becoming its President in 1990. She was elected to the

10th Lok Sabha List of Members of the 10th Lok Sabha, (20 June 1991 – 10 May 1996) elected during 1991 Indian general election held during May–June 1991. The Lok Sabha (House of the People) is the lower house in the Parliament of India, four sitting membe ...

in 1991 from

in Haryana. She was Union Minister of State for Education and Culture in the Narasimha Rao-led Congress government. Despite the Congress debacle in

Haryana Haryana (; ) is an Indian state located in the northern part of the country. It was carved out of the former state of East Punjab on 1 Nov 1966 on a linguistic basis. It is ranked 21st in terms of area, with less than 1.4% () of India's land a ...

in 1996, she was re-elected to the

11th Lok Sabha General elections were held in India in April–May 1996 to elect the members of the 11th Lok Sabha. The result of the election was a hung parliament, which would see three Prime Ministers in two years and force the country back to the polls ...

. Selja began actively participating in international conferences and summits following her election to the

14th Lok Sabha The 14th Lok Sabha (17 May 2004 – 18 May 2009) was convened after the 2004 Indian general election held in four phases during 20 April – 10 May 2004, which led to the formation of first Manmohan Singh ministry (2004–2009). Indian Nation ...

in 2004. She was elected as a member of the Governing Board of Commonwealth Local Government Forum in 2005. She continued to engage with other such organisations as the

Commonwealth Parliamentary Association The Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA), previously known as the Empire Parliamentary Association, is an organisation which works to support good governance, democracy and human rights. In 1989 the patron of the CPA was the Head ...

and also headed the Commonwealth Consultative Group on Human Settlements.

Role under UPA governments (2004–2013)

Selja also took the oath as the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation in the Manmohan Singh-led government that following the 2004 electoral victory. Following her election to the

from

, Selja was appointed the Minister of Tourism in Manmohan Singh's second cabinet. She visited such countries as

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

and

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is ge ...

aimed at improving international relations during her time in office. In March 2011, Selja was issued notices by the

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising a ...

and

High Court over a petition that has accused her of "forgery, criminal intimidation, fabrication and hatching a criminal conspiracy". The petitioner, advocate B S Chahar, has alleged that Selja, who was "instrumental in instigating leaders and members of the

Balmiki Chuhra is a Dalit caste in India and Pakistan. Populated regions include the Punjab region of India and Pakistan, as well as Uttar Pradesh in India, among other parts of the Indian subcontinent such as southern India. Their traditional occupatio ...

community against

Jat The Jat people ((), ()) are a traditionally agricultural community in Northern India and Pakistan. Originally pastoralists in the lower Indus river-valley of Sindh, Jats migrated north into the Punjab region in late medieval times, and su ...

leaders in

Mirchpur Mirchpur is an Indus Valley civilization site and village in Narnaund, Hissar district, Haryana, India. Demographics of 2011 As of 2011 India census, Mirchpur had a population of 8737 in 1670 households. Males (4706) constitute 53.85% of the ...

case", tried to save herself from a litigation by pressurising the undertrials and forcing them to sign "blank and non judicial papers". Selja later took oath as Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment in 2012. She remained in office for five years until the completion of her term in May 2014, a period during which she worked on issues relating to

empowerment of women Women's empowerment (or female empowerment) may be defined in several ways, including accepting women's viewpoints, making an effort to seek them and raising the status of women through Education, education, social awareness, awareness, literac ...

and rights of marginalised communities.

Move to Rajya Sabha and beyond (2014–present)

Selja was elected to the

, the upper house of the

Parliament of India The Parliament of India ( IAST: ) is the supreme legislative body of the Republic of India. It is a bicameral legislature composed of the president of India and two houses: the Rajya Sabha (Council of States) and the Lok Sabha (House of the ...

, from her home state of Haryana in 2014. She unsuccessfully contested the

2019 Indian general elections Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number), the natural number following 18 and preceding 20 * one of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (film), a 1987 science fiction film Music ...

from

, losing out to

Bhartiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the ruling political party in India under Narendra Modi ...

Rattan Lal Kataria Rattan Lal Kataria is an Indian politician from Haryana. He served as the Minister of State in the Ministry of Jal Shakti and Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment till 7 July 2021. He is a member of the 16th Lok Sabha. He got elected to 16 ...

. Following that, she expressed a renewed interest in the politics of the state and was appointed the president of the Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee in September, 2019, just ahead of the assembly elections scheduled for October.

References

External links

Official biographical sketch in Parliament of India website
, - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Kumari, Selja 1962 births Living people Indian National Congress politicians from Haryana India MPs 1991–1996 India MPs 1996–1997 India MPs 2004–2009 India MPs 2009–2014 Rajya Sabha members from Haryana People from Hisar (city) People from Ambala Union ministers of state of India with independent charge Members of the Cabinet of India Lok Sabha members from Haryana Women in Haryana politics 21st-century Indian women politicians 21st-century Indian politicians 20th-century Indian women politicians 20th-century Indian politicians Women members of the Cabinet of India Women members of the Rajya Sabha Culture Ministers of India Women members of the Lok Sabha