The Centre has officially nominated the following names to the Rajya Sabha.
Suresh Gopi
National Award-winning Malayalam actor Suresh Gopi had been offered a ticket for the Kerala assembly elections by the BJP. He instead opted to campaign for the party for the upcoming state polls.
Reacting to the news of his nomination, Gopi said,
Subramanian Swamy
Swamy is a former Union Cabinet Minister and Janata Party Chief. His party merged with the BJP in 2013. In 2015, reports suggested that the government would appoint him to the post of Vice-Chancellor at Jawaharlal Nehru University. He declined the post.
Swamy is behind filing several high-profile cases, including the 2G scam and the National Herald case.
On his nomination to the Rajya Sabha, Swamy said, "I have influence cutting across parties and hope to help Modi sail through Rajya Sabha."
Navjot Singh Sidhu
A former cricketer and commentator, Sidhu was a Lok Sabha MP for the BJP from Amritsar between 2004-2014.
Sidhu has appeared on the comedy shows The Great Indian Laughter Challenge, Funjabi Chak De and Comedy Nights with Kapil. He took part in season six of the reality show Bigg Boss.
Swapan Dasgupta
Dasgupta is a political columnist known for his right-wing leanings. He was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 2015 in the field of Literature and Education.
Narendra Jadhav
Jadhav is a noted economist who has been part of the erstwhile Planning Commission and the National Advisory Council. He has served Chief Economist at the RBI and as Advisor at the IMF.
Mary Kom
Acclaimed boxer and gold medallist at the 2014 Asian Games, Kom was selected by the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region to be appointed as brand ambassador for the north-eastern states. She is a five-time World Amateur Boxing champion. Kom was the subject of wildly successful biopic directed by Omung Mehra in which her role was played by Priyanka Chopra.
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 "Subramanian Swamy, Navjot Singh Sidhu, Swapan Dasgupta, Narendra Jadhav, Suresh Gopi, Mary Kom, Rajya Sabha, Narendra Modi, NDA")
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