A former foreign secretary, a lawyer, who sued 26/11 terrorist Ajmal Kasab, historian, who wrote an official textbook on medieval history of India during the tenure of the Vajpayee government, and an experienced BJP leader in Kerala who was a victim of political violence three decades ago. These are the people who are enrolled in the Rajya Sabha on Sunday.
Retired diplomat Harsh Vardan Shringla, prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam, historian Meenakshi Jain, and BJP leader C Sadanandan Master will be included in the Rajya Sabha, who, according to the constitution 80, may be 12 nominated members who have special knowledge or practical experience of literature, science, art or social service.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi welcomed the nomination. Congratulating Shringla, he posted on X, “Mr. Harsh Vardan Shringla ji has excelled as a diplomat, intellectual and strategic thinker. Over the years, he has contributed significantly to India’s foreign policy and has also contributed to our G20 Presidential post.”
Shringla is a 1984 batch IFS officer and served as the Ambassador of India in the US, High Commissioner to Bangladesh, and Ambassador to Thailand. In 2019, during his tenure as the US messenger, the “Hody Modi” incident was held in Texas. The 63 -year -old was Foreign Secretary from 2020 to 2022 and served as India’s G20 President’s Chief Coordinator in 2023.
72-year-old Ujjwal Nikam is known as a person who prosecuted Kasab, and whenever a complex or high-profile case crops are there, he is a man. “Ujjwal Nikam is exemplary for the legal sector and for our Constitution,” Modi posted on X. “He has not only been a successful lawyer, but has also been at the forefront of seeking justice in important matters …”
After the announcement, Nikam told ANI“Then he switched in Marathi and told me that the President has entrusted me new responsibilities and asked if I was ready to take them.
Nikam represented the state in cases such as 1993 Bombay Blast Trial, 1997 murder of music executive Gulshan Kumar, killing BJP leader Pramod Mahajan in 2006, and 2006 Khairlanji massacre, killing four members of a Dalit family.
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The case that made him a domestic name across the country was Kasab’s case. During the proceedings, Nikam claimed that the terrorist had demanded biryani in jail. However, he later admitted that he “made a statement because there was a sympathetic wave building towards Kasab”, who was hanged in November 2012.
In May 2024, Nikam resigned as Special Public Prosecutor to contest the Lok Sabha elections from Mumbai North Central on a BJP ticket.
However, he lost to Varsha Gikwar of Congress by more than 16,000 votes. Nikam was then re -appointed as Special Public Prosecutor and was handling cases like 26/11 attack against Jaibuddin Ansari alias Abu Jandal and the murder allegations against Vijay Palande, who challenged Nikam’s revaluation, claimed that “he would act to carry forward the BJP’s agenda.”
Congratulating Meenakshi Jain, Modi wrote on X, “It is very happy that Dr. Meenakshi Jain ji has been nominated as the President. He has distinguished himself as a scholar, researcher and historian …”
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Jain taught history at Gargi College, University of Delhi for more than three decades and wrote the NCERT textbook on medieval India during the tenure of the Vajpai government. His book changed a one written by historian Satish Chandra and in turn, changed the Congress -led UPA after coming to power in 2004.
During the first term of the Jain Modi government, he became a member of the Indian Council of Historical Research and was honored with Padma Shri in 2020. Currently, a senior partner of the Indian Council of Social Science Research, he has written several books. One of them is Rama and Ayodhya which detects the struggle on Ram Janmabhmi in Ayodhya.
President of Delhi University Teachers Association, Dr. Ak Bhagi described Jain’s nomination as a moment of joy, saying, “Only our ideology can only provide such respect to teachers.”
The only politician in the list, retired school student Sadanandan Master survived an attack in Kannur, North Kerala, three decades ago, in which he lost both his legs.
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The 61 -year -old, who appointed one of the vice -presidents of Kerala BJP last week, consisting of the village of Perinchari near Mattanur, Kannur, which is considered a CPI (M) stronghold. However from a family of communist supporters, he joined the RSS student Wing ABVP and was officially a part of the Sangh until 1984. For a time, he was the intellect of the Sangh in Ernakulam, who was responsible for the conceptual training of the cadre. Till 1994, he was the RSS cum and co -operative (Joint General Secretary) for Kannur.
On the night of 25 January 1994, he was going home after leaving a bus from a bus in Uruvachal near Mattanur, when a group of suspected CPI (M) workers attacked him. Sadanadan later recalled, “A gang suddenly started blowing bombs, tried to intimidate, and people started running their shops and closed their shops. The gang approached me from behind and caught me. They lay down on the road, then threw both my legs under the knee and threw them. Nobody dared to come to help me.”
After a few months in the hospital, Sadanandan, who was prosthetic limbs for both legs, returned to his school, who was struggling to attract students. After this, the BJP appointed him as a deputy editor at the party mouthpiece Janmabhumi. In 1999, he attended a school in Thrissur run by Sangh Parivar as a teacher.
In the 2016 assembly elections, in which the BJP made the “CPI (M) -SASD” violence an important issue, Sadanandan was fielded from Kothuparamba assembly constituency, where some cruel political murders in Kannur took place in the 1990s. He finished third behind CPI (M) KK Shailaja and JD (U) candidate KP Mohanan, voting over 20,000. Sadanandan retired as a teacher from a school in Peramangalam, Thrissur in 2020 and has been active in recent years with an intellectual wing of the RSS with an Indian conscience Kendram, and writes columns in the media.
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Modi wrote, “Shri C. Sadanandan Master’s life is a symbol of courage and refuses to bow down to injustice. Violence and intimidation cannot stop his spirit towards national development. His efforts as a teacher and social worker are also commendable … Happy his role as an MP.”
– ENS with Delhi input
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