Subramanian Swamy, Navjot Sidhu, Mary Kom among 6 nominated to Rajya Sabha

President Pranab Mukherjee on Friday gave his nod for nomination of six members to Rajya Sabha.

The six who have been nominated are economist Narendra Jadhav, Olympic medallist Mary Kom, BJP member and Gandhi family baiter Subramanian Swamy, Malayalam actor Suresh Gopi, former MP and cricket commentator Navjot Singh Sidhu and journalist Swapan Dasgupta.

Though independent, the nominated members usually vote along with the government and could bolster the NDA’s numbers in the Upper House where they are sorely lacking. The NDA’s lack of adequate strength in the Rajya Sabha has, in fact, led to several embarrassing moments, including amendment to the motion of thanks to the Presidential address.

The Rajya Sabha had seven vacancies at present. Members are nominated by the President to the Upper House on the recommendation of the government. The government recommends names of people having “special knowledge or practical experience in literature, science, art and social service”.

Sources said that while the President has cleared the names, a formal announcement could be made later in the day.