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Selja Kumari Biography: Age, Career, Family and More

F4U Editorial Desk • Updated October 14, 2026 • 3 min read

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Quick Info

Date of birth24 September 1962

Age62 Years

BirthplaceChandigarh

ProfessionPolitician

NationalityIndian

Marital statusUnmarried

FamilyFather - Chaudhary Dalbir Singh; Mother - Kalawati Bhankhor

Net worth20.05 crores INR (as of 2019)

Selja Kumari Biography

Selja Kumari is an Indian National Congress politician from Haryana who has held multiple ministerial posts, served in both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, and,

Early life and background
Selja Kumari was born on 24 September 1962 in Chandigarh and grew up in New Delhi. She completed her schooling at the Convent of Jesus and Mary in Delhi before moving to Chandigarh for higher education. At Panjab University she earned a Master of Arts in 1984 and an M.Phil. in 1987. Her family background includes politics: her father, Chaudhary Dalbir Singh, was a Congress politician and a four-time Member of Parliament. Selja Kumari remains unmarried and has no children.

Career
Selja Kumari joined the Indian National Congress in 1990 and was soon appointed joint secretary of the Mahila Congress. She entered Parliament in 1991 when she was elected to the Lok Sabha from Sirsa, Haryana, and was re-elected from the same constituency in 1996.

During the 1990s she held junior ministerial responsibilities in the education portfolio. From July 1992 until September 1995 she served as Union Deputy Minister of Education & Culture and in the Ministry of Human Resource Development; from September 1995 to May 1996 she served as Minister of State for those departments. After a period as an AICC office-bearer, including roles as secretary and spokesperson from 1996 to 2004, she returned to the Lok Sabha in 2004 elected from Ambala, Haryana.

Following the 2004 election she was named Union Minister of State with independent charge for the Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation. In 2007 she was elected to a two-year term as President of the 21st Governing Council of UN-Habitat. She was re-elected to the 15th Lok Sabha in 2009 and promoted to Cabinet rank as Minister for Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation and Tourism from May 2009 to January 2011. She was subsequently given additional responsibility for the Ministry of Culture from January 2011 to October 2012, and on 28 October 2012 she was appointed Union Cabinet Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment.

In April 2014 Selja Kumari was elected to the Rajya Sabha from Haryana. She contested the 2019 general election in Ambala but was defeated by a Bharatiya Janata Party candidate. Later that year, in September 2019, she was appointed President of the Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee. In the 2019 state election cycle she took disciplinary action within the party, announcing the expulsion of 16 members for contesting as rebels.

Most recently, she returned to the Lok Sabha by winning the 2024 parliamentary election from the Sirsa constituency in Haryana.

Public profile
Selja Kumari’s political career spans local, national and international roles focused on housing, culture and social welfare. Her ministerial tenure under the Manmohan Singh government included responsibilities for urban development, tourism and social justice. Her interests outside politics are said to include reading on socio-economic and environmental issues and playing golf.

Her public record also includes legal and security incidents that received attention: she faced notices from the Punjab & Haryana High Court over allegations related to the Mirchpur case in 2011, and in October 2013 she was injured when a stone was thrown through a train window after she had boarded a newly inaugurated service.

Style and assets
Available records list her approximate height as 5 feet 4 inches, with dark brown eyes and black hair. Her declared assets as of 2019 comprised various bank deposits, landholdings, residential properties and jewellery; she also owned a Honda City (2019 model). The same disclosures provided an estimated net worth figure as of 2019.

Latest updates
In 2024 Selja Kumari won the Lok Sabha seat from Sirsa, marking a return to the lower house of Parliament. She continues to be an active leader within the Indian National Congress and has held key organisational and ministerial roles over more than three decades.

Editorial Review and Sources

This F4U profile is written from publicly available career and profile information, then reviewed for clarity before publication. If you spot an outdated detail about Selja Kumari, send the page URL and a reliable correction source to f4udotin@gmail.com.

Reference context: StarsUnfolded

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Recent Work

Elected Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha (Sirsa)

Won the 2024 Lok Sabha election from the Sirsa constituency in Haryana.

2024
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Career Highlights

  1. Appointed joint-secretary of the Mahila Congress in 1990
  2. Elected to Lok Sabha (Sirsa) in 1991 and 1996; Ambala in 2004 and 2009
  3. Held junior and cabinet ministerial portfolios in education, housing and urban poverty alleviation, tourism, culture, and social justice
  4. Elected President of the 21st Governing Council of UN-Habitat (2007)
  5. Elected to Rajya Sabha from Haryana in April 2014
  6. Appointed President of the Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee in September 2019
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Net Worth

20.05 crores INR (as of 2019)

Figures are editorial estimates based on publicly available reporting and may change as new information emerges.

Reviewed by F4U Editorial Desk

F4U profile pages are prepared from public career information, checked for readability, and updated when reliable correction sources are shared with the editorial team.

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Frequently Asked Questions

When was Selja Kumari born?

Selja Kumari was born on 24 September 1962.

What is Selja Kumari known for?

Selja Kumari is known for politician.

What is Selja Kumari’s marital status?

Selja Kumari's marital status is listed as Unmarried.

What is Selja Kumari’s net worth?

Selja Kumari's net worth is commonly listed as 20.05 crores INR (as of 2019), based on available public profile information.