The politics of Rajya Sabha nominations: How Modi's strategy differs from Vajpayee's & UPA's

The Print

2 days ago

But over the years, the process has changed. Political observers say that though the nominated category was once seen as a platform for non-partisan excellence, it has increasingly been used to push an ideological and political message for electoral purposes.
These 12 nominated members were meant to enrich the intellectual capital of the Upper House by including people of eminence from different fields, 'many of whom may not like to face the rough and tumble of the election'.
New Delhi: When the concept of nominated members to the Rajya Sabha was first introduced, the purpose was to bring diverse perspectives from beyond the electoral fray to the House: From literature, art, science and social service.
According to them, in recent years, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has used the nominated category to expand its ideological and geographical footprint through its Rajya Sabha nominations.
'The original vision behind nominated members has been flouted for electoral benefit recently. When debate happened in the Constituent Assembly over it, the idea was to nominate those eminent persons who achieve excellence in art, culture, cinema, etc—people who could raise the bar of the Rajya Sabha,' P.D.T. Achary, constitutional expert and former Lok Sabha secretary general, told ThePrint.
'When Nehru sent the first batch of nominations, he said the new members represented the high watermark and were non-political persons. Today, even BJP office bearers, who are contesting elections, are nominated in the distinguished category. One person, once accused of an attack on another political party worker, is a new MP. What is his contribution to social service? But it's the new normal,' he added.
He was referring to C. Sadanandan Master, a BJP veteran and senior RSS leader from Kerala who was nominated to the Rajya Sabha in the latest batch.
Analysts point to the latest nominations as an example of the changing trend. Apart from Sadanandan Master, three others were nominated to the Rajya Sabha Sunday: Prominent lawyer Ujjwal Nikam, eminent historian Meenakshi Jain and former Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla.
Nikam, who replaced noted lawyer Mahesh Jethmalani after his term ended, can help the BJP counter the Opposition's attack in the upcoming Parliament session, given Abhishek Manu Singhvi and Kapil Sibal's presence in the Rajya Sabha.
As the Special Public Prosecutor in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks case, Nikam will likely add heft to the government when there is a discussion on Operation Sindoor in the coming Monsoon Session.
The presence of Jain, a historian aligned with the Hindutva narrative who has been central to the ideological pushback against Leftist historians, will provide academic backing to House debates on history and culture. Her book on Ayodhya was cited often in the Ayodhya legal battle.
Shringla is the first diplomat to be nominated in 11 years and has been rewarded for his past work.
Sadanandan Master, the BJP's vice-president in Kerala, is seen as key to the party's political messaging before the Kerala assembly polls next year against the CPM. He became a symbol of the CPM's attacks on the RSS in Kerala after he was attacked by a group of men in January 1994, years after he left the Communist party for the RSS. He lost both his legs in the attack near Kannur district's Thalassery.
The police arrested 12 people, all of them with links to the Communist party—eight were convicted, while four were acquitted due to lack of evidence. According to the FIR, the accused persons had also hurled a country-made bomb, sowing terror and delaying his rescue.
Sadanandan's nomination to the Rajya Sabha has drawn sharp criticism from the Congress and CPI(M) in Kerala. Leaders of both parties in Kerala accused the BJP of using the constitutional provision for political gain rather than for recognising excellence in fields like literature, science, arts and social service.
'This is not what the Rajya Sabha nominations are meant for,' said Leader of Opposition V.D. Satheesan. 'When P.T. Usha was nominated from sports, nobody objected because she had earned her place. But now, all RSS functionaries are being pushed in through this route. The BJP is misusing the power to nominate,' the Congress leader told reporters in Thrissur.
Sadanandan told ThePrint his nomination was a tribute to the workers fighting against the CPM.
'When the PM called, I was not expecting such recognition. It's a tribute to all workers who are fighting against the CPM. Since 1949, the Sangh has held its ground in Kerala and Kannur. Hundreds of workers have been killed. This is a tribute to all,' he said.
Also read: 26/11 prosecutor, ex-foreign secretary & Kerala poll violence victim: Stories of 4 Rajya Sabha nominees
The Vajpayee era
In the past, Atal Bihari Vajpayee largely followed the letter and spirit of the Constitution and chose personalities known for their excellence.
During his first term as prime minister of the first National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government, Vajpayee nominated 11 people between 1998 and 2003, notably three from Bollywood—renowned singer Lata Mangeshkar, actress Hema Malini and Dara Singh. Two journalists—the then Navbharat Times editor Vidya Niwas Mishra and the owner of The Pioneer, Chandan Mitra—were also on the list.
Others included former RBI governor Bimal Jalan, jurist Fali S. Nariman and social worker Narayan Singh Manaklao, who worked in Rajasthan to reduce the consumption of opium and established a school to impart free quality education to disabled children.
Only two had clear ideological leanings—RSS member Nanaji Deshmukh and journalist-actor Cho Ramaswamy, known as an RSS sympathiser.
'Vajpyee and even many Congress prime ministers rewarded eminent people without calculating the political dividend or party expansion plans,' a former union minister from the Vajpyee era said to ThePrint.
'They thought such nominations would raise the beauty and bar of the Rajya Sabha. They did not use it as a platform for party growth,' the former minister added.
Few were surprised by Vajpayee's decision to pick Lata Mangeshkar. As a poet, he always had high regard for the soft power of art, cinema, poetry and literature.
Lyricist Yatindra Mishra wrote in his book, Lata Sur Gatha, that Lata Mangeshkar was like a family friend of Vajpayee and had great regard for him.
According to him, Lata once told Vajpayee, 'If we spell your first name backwards, it becomes Lata, which is her name. Vajpayee had a good laugh. Lata used to call Vajpayee dada, and Vajpayee called her beti; such was the bonding between both, and knowing Lata's eminence in singing, no one was surprised after her nominations.'
Vajpayee picked Bimal Jalan for his expertise as an economist. Jalan was the go-to man for several PMs, from Narasimha Rao to Deve Gowda, and was known for negotiating the IMF bailout package during the 1991 crisis under Manmohan Singh. Similarly, ISRO scientist K. Kasturirangan and jurist Fali Nariman were selected for their excellence and eminence.
Nanaji Deshmukh and Cho Ramaswamy were the only two who could be considered to have been rewarded by the BJP for helping expand the party's ideological and geographical footprint in the south.
'During Vajpayee's regime as finance minister, I have presented five budgets. During the discussion on the final draft of a budget proposal, Atalji never said it would hurt an electoral constituency or asked to change a proposal for a gain. He always said that if it is required in the national interest, do it,' Yashwant Sinha, former finance minister in the Vajpayee government, told ThePrint.
'But the present dispensation's thinking starts with electoral gains and expansion plans, whether it's security issues or nominations. When former RBI governor Bimal Jalan was nominated, Atalji asked me about it. I said he would contribute to the Rajya Sabha, and he contributed by highlighting economic issues and giving guidance to the house. But now the criteria are different,' he added.
UPA term: Name, fame & loyalties
Similarly, Manmohan Singh, who was prime minister for a decade, also stuck to nominating eminent personalities.
He nominated 19 Rajya Sabha members, three of whom are from Bollywood—actress Rekha, script writer Javed Akhtar and director Shyam Bengal.
Singh also nominated people from different backgrounds. They included two media people, journalist H.K. Dua and Hindustan Times owner Shobhana Bhartia, as well as two corporate professionals, former Hindustan Lever chairman Ashok Ganguly and former Thermax head Anu Agha.
He also nominated the father of the Green Revolution, M.S. Swaminathan, economist C. Rangarajan, educationist Bhalchandra Mungekar, famous cricket player Sachin Tendulkar and jurist K. Parasaran, who fought the Ram Mandir case. The Modi government later included Parasaran in the Ram Janmbhoomi Teerth Kshetra in 2019.
Educationist Mrinal Miri, a member of the National Advisory Council under Sonia Gandhi, and leading scholar Kapila Vatsyayan, who was considered a Gandhi family loyalist, were included in a move many said was aimed at pleasing the Gandhis.
The only political appointees were Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyer and scholar and tribal leader Ram Dayal Munda, whose Rajya Sabha nomination was seen as a way of reaching out to the tribal community. Towards the end of his tenure, Manmohan Singh appointed prominent advocate K.T.S. Tulsi for his legal expertise.
Modi's political messaging
Since PM Narendra Modi came to power in 2014, his government has expanded the purpose of nominated members to the Rajya Sabha, picking eminent personalities from newer areas for ideological massaging and caste and geographical expansion.
In Modi's first term, the Rajya Sabha picks, under Arun Jaitley's guidance, were driven by expanding into areas where the BJP lacked political influence.
Notably, the party also selected politicians, sportsmen and filmmakers, but none of the appointments were from Bollywood, unlike the terms of Vajpayee and Manmohan Singh.
One of the early picks was cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu, who was accommodated after Jaitley fought the Amritsar Lok Sabha seat from where Sidhu was hoping to get a ticket. He quit within a year and a half.
Similarly, journalist Swapan Dasgupta, who was Jaitley's choice, and actress Roopa Ganguly of Mahabharat fame, were nominated to expand the BJP's footprint in West Bengal. The party was preparing the ground to expand in the state when Ganguly was inducted in 2015. Jaitley was present onstage during Ganguly's induction.
Politician Sambhajiraje Chhatrapati, a descendant of Shivaji Maharaj, was chosen when the Maratha agitation was making news in Maharashtra during Devendra Fadnavis's first term.
Malayalam actor Suresh Gopi was chosen from Kerala in 2016. He went on to become the BJP's first Lok Sabha MP from Kerala and was made a Union minister in 2024.
Boxer Mary Kom was selected for her cultural capital in the Northeast. Politician Subramanian Swamy was chosen on the RSS's recommendations.
Later, the Rajya Sabha nominations were used to reward people who had helped the BJP's ideological or legal causes. Former Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, under whose term the Ayodhya judgment was pronounced, and noted lawyer Mahesh Jethmalani were nominated.
Later nominations followed the same pattern as the BJP kept choosing people from areas where it was looking to expand its presence.
This included religious leader Veerendra Heggade with a huge following in Karnataka as well as Tamil and Telugu cinema legends Ilaiyaraaja and Vijendra Prasad, who were inducted before the Telangana assembly election.
Ghulam Ali Khatana, the lone BJP Muslim MP from the Gujjar community in Jammu and Kashmir, was nominated, knowing the importance of the community.
Entrepreneur Satnam Sandhu, founder chancellor of Chandigarh University, was accommodated as he worked behind the scenes to help the government soothe Sikh anger during the farm protests by organising a Sikh delegation meeting with the prime minister and a conference on PM Modi's contribution towards the Sikh community.
Unlike the past, the current administration has not hesitated to select BJP leaders in the nominated category, whether it's Subramanian Swamy, Sakaldeep Rajbhar, Sambhajiraje or, now, Sadanandan Master.
Rajbhar, a BJP leader from Uttar Pradesh, was nominated to the Rajya Sabha in 2018 after he failed to get a ticket.
'When I was nominated, I was astonished as I wasn't expecting it. But PM Modi knows that workers who did not get a chance should be respected. That's why I was selected,' he told ThePrint.
Rajbhar fought the assembly election in 2002 but lost. He again sought the ticket in the 2017 assembly poll but was told to wait.
He got the Rajya Sabha in 2018 as the party, mindful of the growing importance of OBC politics, invested heavily in his leadership. Rajbhar was one of the faces to counter rival Om Prakash Rajbhar and expand the BJP's social base.
Many nominated members in the past have been criticised for not adding any value to the Rajya Sabha. Rekha and Sachin Tendulkar came under fire for not attending sessions despite a brilliant track record as an actor and cricketer.
Rekha's attendance was only 5 percent, while Tendulkar was a bit higher at 7 percent. Rekha did not ask any questions in her term in the Rajya Sabha, while Tendulkar's was a little better, asking 22 questions.
However, he was still far below the average of a normal MP and, at the time, many said the Congress had wasted two seats by nominating them.
'When an eminent person comes into the House, they bring with them perspective. Like when Fali Nariman was a member, he spoke on several issues like a higher budget for elderly people, prohibition of contract labour and more teeth to the Central Vigilance Commission. As a brilliant legal mind, the government too acknowledged his point of view,' said a former BJP Rajya Sabha MP.
'When Javed Akhtar was nominated, through his effort, the Copyright Bill was amended. Even Mary Kom, Sonal Mansingh and Sudha Murty raised several important things to the notice of the house. But this cannot be said for all.'
(Edited by Sugita Katyal)
Also read: Legs hacked by Left supporters, how RS entrant Sadanandan's case played out in the courts