Roopa Ganguly nominated to Rajya Sabha: This is what Mahabharat actor said

New Delhi: Actor-turned-BJP leader Roopa Ganguly was on Tuesday nominated to the Rajya Sabha.

A Home Ministry release said she had been nominated to the upper house by President Pranab Mukherjee to fill a vacancy of a nominated member.

The vacancy had arisen following the resignation of cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu of the Bharatiya Janata Party from the upper house.

Speaking to The Indian Express, Ganguly said on Tuesday, “I take it as more of a responsibility than a feather in my cap.”

“A few days ago, I was asked to submit my resume. Even then I had no idea. When media friends started calling me today I didn’t know what to say because there was no official confirmation. Till I got a mail from Delhi, I didn’t talk to the media as well,” she added.

When asked why she was given preference over other senior leaders, Ganguly told the daily, “The discussion on this topic itself is meaningless. Whatever I am today in terms of politics is because of people like Kailash Vijayvargiya and Shiv Prakash. It is to the party’s credit that it has recognised people who work.”

Ganguly, who had come into the limelight with her role of Draupadi in television serial "Mahabharat", joined BJP in 2015, ahead of the West Bengal Assembly Elections in 2016 which she contested. She, however, lost from Howrah North to Trinamool Congress candidate and cricketer Laxmi Ratan Shukla.

In the Rajya Sabha, she will be in the company of former cricketer Sachin Tendulkar, actor Rekha, columnist Swapan Dasgupta and BJP leader Subramanian Swamy, who are among the nominated members.