 "Parliament")
The Centre on Friday filled six of the seven vacancies among the dozen nominated members of the Rajya Sabha.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) functionaries Subramanian Swamy and Navjot Singh Sidhu, journalist Swapan Dasgupta and five-time world amateur boxing champion M C Mary Kom were nominated. Also economist Narendra Jadhav and Malayalam actor Suresh Gopi.
A home ministry spokesperson said President Pranab Mukherjee, on the recommendation of the government, nominated the six. A nominated member is allowed six months to decide whether to join a political party after having taken the seat.
While the nomination of 32-year-old Mary Kom should burnish the government's image of inclusive nationalism and its ambitions to make political inroads in Manipur, the other five have been longstanding supporters or members of the BJP. Dasgupta, 60, is a well-known journalist and was conferred with a Padma award in 2015. Gopi, popular as an action hero, has been a supporter of the BJP for several years. Swamy, Sidhu and Dasgupta would give the government three effective speakers in the House. The National Democratic Alliance is not only in a minority in the Rajya Sabha but frequently struggles to find good speakers among its ranks to field on crucial debates against a constellation of articulate and experienced members within the opposition ranks.
He had recently refused the BJP state unit's request to contest the Assembly elections from Thiruvananthapuram. Kerala votes on May 16 and his nomination could help the BJP electorally in the state.
Although nominated, Swamy, Sidhu and Dasgupta would give the government three effective speakers in the Upper House. The BJP-led National Democratic Alliance is not only in a minority in the Rajya Sabha but frequently struggles to find good speakers among its ranks to field on crucial debates against a constellation of articulate and experienced members within the opposition ranks. Given that time allotted to members is calculated on the basis of the number of MPs of their political party in the House, nominated and independent members get fewer opportunities as well as less time to take part in discussions. It is likely that two of the three could opt to join the treasury benches.
Swamy, 76, was a member of the Rajya Sabha from Jan Sangh from 1974 to 76. His six year term was cut short as he was disqualified from the House during the Emergency. His second term in the Rajya Sabha was from 1988 to 94. He has also thrice been a member of the Lok Sabha. He was elected twice from Mumbai - in 1977 and 1980 - and once from Madurai, Tamil Nadu. Swamy was a cabinet minister in the Chandra Shekhar government. As a Supreme Court advocate, Swamy was one of the petitioners in the 2G case. He was once a close adviser of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi but has been a trenchant critic of Congress President Sonia Gandhi over the past decade and a half. He joined the BJP in 2013.
Sidhu, 52, a former cricketer, is a two time BJP Lok Sabha member. He had won from Amritsar in 2004 and re-elected in 2009. Sidhu, despite being a sitting MP, was denied the party ticket for the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. Instead, the BJP had fielded Arun Jaitley who lost to Amarinder Singh of the Congress. Sidhu had been unhappy for having been left out in the cold despite his 'sacrifice'. But party bosses have smiled on him with Punjab assembly polls due in early 2017. According to sources, the Aam Aadmi Party had approached Sidhu to be there face for the Punjab elections.
Jadhav, 62, is an economist who was part of Congress President Sonia Gandhi's National Advisory Council (NAC) during the UPA 2 years. He has also written extensively on architect of the Constitution and Dalit icon BR Ambedkar. He was a member of Planning Commission from 2009 to 2014 and Vice Chancellor of the University of Pune.
The vacancies had arisen after the retirement of Congress leaders Mani Shankar Aiyar and Bhalchandra Mungnekar, lyricist Javed Akhtar, Mrinal Miri and B Jayashree. After being nominated, Aiyar and Mungnekar had opted to join the Congress.
The other nominated members are Sachin Tendulkar, Rekha, KTS Tulsi, K Parasaran and Anu Aga. Tulsi's term ends in 2020, while that of the other four in 2018.
