New Delhi: Nominated MP Satnam Singh Sandhu has joined the BJP, taking the number of ruling party's strength in Rajya Sabha to 87.
Sandhu had to inform Parliament about whether he chose to join any party within six months of his taking oath as nominated MP.
This deadline was ending on July 31 and Sandhu, Chancellor of the private Chandigarh University, informed the Rajya Sabha Secretariat that he had joined the BJP on July 22.
He has joined the BJP "before the expiry of six months from the date of taking oath on 31st January, 2024. Therefore, he shall be deemed to belong to BJP, in terms of the Explanation [(b)(ii)] to paragraph 2 (1) of the Tenth Schedule to the Constitution", a Rajya Sabha bulletin said late last week.
As per the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution, a nominated member will be considered to belong to a party if he is a party member at the time of the nomination. Otherwise, he can be considered as belonging to a party if he becomes a member before the expiry of six months from the date on which he takes his seat.
However, a nominated MP will be disqualified if he joins a party after the expiry of six months from the date on which he takes his seat.
Of the eight nominated MPs in Rajya Sabha, Satnam and Ghulam Ali from Kashmir are now part of the BJP while six others -- Justice Ranjan Gogoi, Veerendra Heggade, Ilaiyaraaja, Sudha Murthy, Vijayendra Prasad and PT Usha -- have not joined any party though they support the Modi government.
At present there are four vacancies of nominated members and the four who recently retired, including Rakesh Sinha and Sonal Mansingh, had been officially affiliated with BJP.
Published 28 July 2024, 07:23 IST
