Swapan Dasgupta renominated to Rajya Sabha on BJP ticket

After an unsuccessful contest for a seat in the West Bengal Assembly, Swapan Dasgupta, who had resigned from his nominated membership of the Rajya Sabha to fight the elections on a BJP ticket, was Tuesday re-nominated to the Upper House.

Prominent lawyer Mahesh Jethmalani was also nominated to the Rajya Sabha by the President. The President nominates renowned personalities to the Upper House on the advice of the government. The nominated members are drawn from fields such as literature, science, sports, art and social service.

Dasgupta had resigned in March, a day after the Trinamool Congress cited constitutional rules to say a nominated member of the Rajya Sabha could not join a political party or participate in its activities. Dasgupta was fielded by the BJP from Tarakeshswar but the former journalist could not win in the election, which was swept by the TMC to return to power in the state.

Though some Opposition leaders raised questions over his re-nomination, Constitutional expert Subhash Kashyap said there was no legal bar in doing so. “There’s no legal bar. The opposition is presumably raising the issue of impropriety here,” Kashyap told The Indian Express.

Congress leader Jairam Ramesh was one of the first to react to the re-nomination of Dasgupta. “I think this is the FIRST time since the Rajya Sabha came into being in 1952 that such a thing has happened,” Ramesh tweeted.