IANS

Ranchi, March 21: Former All India Congress Committee (AICC) secretary Mabel Rebello has been named the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) candidate for the Rajya Sabha elections from Jharkhand.

Rebello will replace Supreme Court advocate R.K. Anand, whose term in the upper house of parliament ends this month.

The announcement on Thursday brought down the curtains on hectic lobbying within the UPA for the lone Rajya Sabha berth from the state that the alliance can hope to secure this year. The elections will be held March 28.

Rebello's nomination has come as a surprise for the state party unit as she is not a prominent leader, according to Congress state functionaries.

Rebello, who was born in Kundapur in Karnataka but is settled in Madhya Pradesh, was first elected to the Rajya Sabha in 1998.

About Mabel Rebello:

M.A., D.S.W.(Diploma in Social Work); I.N.C.(Madhya Pradesh); d. of Shri Elias Leo Rebello and Shrimati Maria Magdalene Rebello; b. at Kundapur, District Udupi, Karnataka, March 26, 1950; ed. at (i) St. Joseph's School, (ii) St. Agnes College and (iii) Roshini Nilaya, Bangalore; Unmarried.

Social Worker; Secretary, Federation of Women and Child Welfare Agencies, Madhya Pradesh; Chairperson, (i) Madhya Pradesh Handicrafts Development Corporation, December 13, 1986-March 5,1990 and (ii) Madhya Pradesh Women's Economic Development Corporation, December 25,1996-June 6,1998; elected to the Rajya Sabha in June 1998.

Travels abroad : U.S.A.,U.K., Canada, Belgium,Holland, Germany, Switzerland, France, Italy, Israel, Australia, Japan, Singapore, Thailand, Hongkong and Nepal.

Publications : published articles in various magazines.

Special interest : Reading, gardening, welfare works leading to the development of skills and income generation among poor.

Favourite pastime and recreation : Reading.

Permanent address : L/7, Triveni Complex, Roshanpura, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh-462003