Published: Apr 28, 2016, 02:10 PM (IST)
Edited: Apr 28, 2016, 02:10 PM (IST)
Cricketer turned politician Navjot Singh Sidhu recently took oath as the member of Rajya Sabha. Sidhu, who is one of the commentators of the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) season nine, was named as one of the preferences by Narendra Modi and government to be included to the prestigious Rajya Sabha. The cricketer now took oath to complete the formalities and joined the likes of Sachin Tendulkar to be a member of the Indian politics up to such stature. However, reports say that the reason behind including Sidhu to the Rajya Sabha is to stop him from joining Aam Admi Party (AAP). READ: Narendra Modi wishes Navjot Singh Sidhu speedy recovery
Rumors said AAP was looking forward to make Sidhu their candidate for the post of chief minister for the Punjab Assembly elections the following year. As IANS reported earlier, the Narendra Modi government had decided to nominate Malayalam actor Suresh Gopi, Olympic medallist Mary Kom and cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu to the Rajya Sabha. Former union minister Subramanian Swamy, senior journalist Swapan Dasgupta and economist Narendra Jadhav were also to be nominated under the category of 12 eminent personalities from the fields of art, literature, sports, science and social service the president nominates to parliament’s upper house on the government’s recommendation. However, there were only seven vacancies under this category at that moment with five sitting members Mani Shankar Aiyer, Javed Akhtar, B. Jayashree, Mrinal Miri and Bhalchandra Mungekar retiring on March 21 while two others – Ashok Ganguly and H.K. Dua – finishing their terms later.
