The Bharatiya Janata Party, currently with 99 members in the Rajya Sabha, could soon hit the century mark in the Upper House.
Late on Saturday evening, the government nominated four individuals, including two who had previously contested elections on BJP tickets, to the Rajya Sabha.
The party will breach the 100 mark if any of the four join its ranks within six months of taking their oaths as nominated members.
Currently, two previously nominated members, Gulam Ali and Satnam Singh Sandhu, are among the BJPs 99 members in the Rajya Sabha.
The President nominates 12 individuals to the Rajya Sabha, who are distinguished figures in various fields. With a week to go before the start of the Monsoon Session, which begins on July 21, the government filled the four vacant seats in the nominated category.
Former foreign secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla, Special Public Prosecutor in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks case Ujjwal Nikam, BJP leader from politically volatile Kannur in Kerala, C Sadanandan Master, and Delhi-based historian Meenakshi Jain were nominated to the Rajya Sabha, the Union home ministry notified later on Saturday night, filling the four vacancies.
The BJP had fielded Nikam as its candidate for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections from the Mumbai North Central seat, which he lost to the Congress Varsha Gaikwad.
Sadanandan Master, a former teacher, was a BJP candidate from the Kuthuparamba seat in Kannur district in the 2016 and 2021 Kerala assembly elections. Kannur is known for the political violence between the Communist Party of India-Marxist and the BJP-Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. In 1994, his two legs were severed during an alleged attack by workers allegedly loyal to his political rivals after he switched his political allegiance.
The Kerala assembly elections are due by April-May next year, and the BJP hopes to become the lead Opposition party. In a post on X on Sunday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi praised Sadanandan Masters life as an epitome of courage and resilience. 'Violence and intimidation couldn't deter his spirit towards national development,' Modi said.
Of Nikam, the PM said, 'He has not only been a successful lawyer but also been at the forefront of seeking justice in important cases.'
In the lead-up to the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP leadership had considered fielding Shringla from the Darjeeling Lok Sabha seat. However, the ticket was eventually given to businessman and sitting MP Raju Bista.
Currently, in a House of 245, with five vacancies -- four from Jammu and Kashmir and one from Punjab -- the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance has 121 seats and could also rely on at least one of the three Independents, and most of the nominated members, for support.
-- Business Standard
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