Swamy among six nominated for the Rajya Sabha

The central government has decided to fill six of seven vacancies in the nominated member category with people close to the BJP.

The nominations are BJP leader Subramanian Swamy, former journalist and BJP ideologue Swapan Dasgupta, Malayalam actor and BJP star campaigner in Kerala Suresh Gopi, economist and former member of National Advisory Council Narendra Jadhav and boxer Mary Kom, government sources and the BJP confirmed independently.

A section of the establishment also sees cricketer-turnedpolitician Navjot Singh Sidhu as another candidate.

For the seventh name, the government is split between actor Anupam Kher and journalist Rajat Sharma, sources said.

The move comes on a day when the Uttarakhand high court set aside President’s rule in the state.

The nominated members are recommended by the President on government’s advice from fields like literature, science, sports, art and social service.

On March 21, five members of the upper house — Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyer, lyricist Javed Akhtar, theatre personality B Jayashree, educationalist Mrinal Miri and economist Bhalchandra Mungekar — retired. Last year, industry expert Ashok Ganguly and journalist HK Dua retired from RS.

Swamy, a Harvard-educated economist, was one of the petitioners in 2G spectrum scam that marked the decline of Congressled UPA, and is a known critic of finance minister Arun Jaitley.

Sources said, Sidhu may be offered a seat as the BJP leadership fears he might join AAP as its chief ministerial candidate in Punjab. Sidhu, a three-time Lok Sabha member from Amritsar, stepped down to make way for Arun Jaitley during the 2014 general elections.

Boxing champion Mary Kom was nominated to ensure representation from the eastern states.