New Delhi, Aug 24: The BJP today finalised the names of eight personalities from different fields for nomination to the Rajya Sabha following the recent retirement of as many members.
The names were cleared at a meeting of the party top brass, including Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani, Finance Minister Jaswant Singh and BJP president M Venkaiah Naidu here.
The doyen of Telugu cinema Akkineni Nageshwara Rao, CSIR chairman R A Mashelkar, ‘Pioneer’ editor Chandan Mitra, Assamese singer Bhupen Hazarika and RBI Governor Bimal Jalan are among those whose candidature figured prominently at the meeting, party sources told news agencies.
The names of cine actress Hema Malini, industrialist Nusli Wadia, ISRO chairman Kasturirangan, moderate Muslim leader Maulana Wahiduddin Khan and pro-RSS columnist Muzzafar Hussain are also believed to have been discussed at the meeting, the
sources said adding none of the retiring members were likely to be re-nominated.
Speculation were also rife about the possible nomination of veteran columnist T V R Shenoy, editor of RSS mouthpiece 'panchajanya' Tarun Vijay and a representative of scheduled castes or scheduled tribes.
The names are expected to be forwarded to Rashtrapati Bhavan for presidential approval.
The issue was also discussed at a meeting of the top BJP leaders here last evening.
Bureau Report
