BJP likely to send External Affairs Minister Jaishankar to RS from Gujarat

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar is likely to be sent to the Rajya Sabha (RS) from Gujarat, BJP sources said here on Monday.

Two Rajya Sabha MPs from Gujarat - BJP president Amit Shah, now Home Minister, and Smriti Irani, who has got Women and Child Development Ministry - have won the Lok Sabha polls, thus creating two vacancies in the Upper House of Parliament from the state.

Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, also a Rajya Sabha member, has won the Lok Sabha poll from Patna Sahib, creating another vacancy for the RS from Bihar.

LJP president and BJP ally Ram Vilas Paswan, who did not fight the Lok Sabha polls this time, has also been promised a Rajya Sabha berth by the BJP, sources said.

As per the norms, a Union Minister has to become a Member of Parliament - either Lok Sabha or Rajya Sabha - within six months after taking the oath.

Sources said the BJP wanted AIADMK to send Jaishankar, who retired last year as India’s Foreign Secretary, to the RS, but they did not agree to give up the lone seat they are getting.

(This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed.)

First Published: Jun 04, 2019 08:20 IST