Kasab prosecutor, ex-diplomat among 4 picked for Rajya Sabha
Legal luminary Ujwal Nikam, Kerala RSS and BJP leader C Sadanandan Master, distinguished diplomat Harsh Vardhan Shringla and historian Meenakshi Jain were on Sunday nominated to the Rajya Sabha by President Droupadi Murmu.
The choice of nominees reflects the BJP-led NDA government’s messaging to poll-bound Kerala and West Bengal as well as a reward for ideological commitment, reclamation of indigenous narratives and nationalistic pursuits. Today’s nominations fill all 12 Rajya Sabha seats in the category where the President nominates individuals with domain expertise.
Under the Constitution, nominated MPs can choose to join a political party or remain unattached. If any of the newly nominated members join the BJP, as Satnam Singh Sandhu (Punjab) and Ghulam Ali (J&K) previously did, the NDA’s strength in the upper house could rise further from its current 135 in the 240-member House.
Among the new entrants is Ujwal Nikam, 72, who led the prosecution in high-profile terrorism cases, including the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks and the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts. He secured over 30 death penalties in his career, most notably for 26/11 attacker Ajmal Kasab (executed in 2012), 1993 blasts convict Yakub Memon (executed in 2015) and Ankur Lal, who was sentenced to death in 2013 for acid-attacking nurse Preethi Rani. A Padma Shri recipient, Nikam unsuccessfully contested the Mumbai North Central seat on the BJP ticket in 2024. Known for advocating capital punishment, he famously stated, “Only the corrigible can be reformed.”
Former Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla, who served as India’s G20 Chief Coordinator in 2023, has been Ambassador to the US, High Commissioner to Bangladesh and Ambassador to Thailand. With roots in Darjeeling, he was considered for the Darjeeling Lok Sabha seat in 2024 but was not fielded. His nomination is seen as part of BJP’s outreach in West Bengal ahead of the 2026 assembly polls.
The most notable nominee is Kannur’s C Sadanandan Master, whose legs were hacked by CPM cadres in 1994 for switching from communist ideology to the RSS. A prominent RSS activist in Kerala, he unsuccessfully contested the 2016 assembly polls from Koothuparamba, a region infamous for political violence. His nomination, the BJP believes, is expected to galvanise cadres in Kerala, where the party seeks to expand its footprint in next year’s elections.
Historian Meenakshi Jain is renowned for reclaiming indigenous narratives and challenging Leftist academic texts. A former Associate Professor at Delhi University’s Gargi College and a Nehru Memorial Museum Fellow, she has authored works like “Rama and Ayodhya” (2013), “The Battle for Rama” (2017), and “Flight of Deities and Rebirth of Temples” (2019). Awarded the Padma Shri in 2020, her research disputes colonial narratives, including the exaggeration of Sati and emphasises India’s cultural resilience.
The nominations, notified by the Home Ministry earlier today, form part of PM Modi’s messaging in states that will witness key elections soon. In Maharashtra, polls are upcoming for the richest municipal body (Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation) where BJP’s principal rivals are Marathi identity poster boys – the Thackeray cousins. Nikam is a Marathi. The Assembly elections in Kerala and Bengal are due in 2026 and Master and Shringla hail from these states.
India