In 2018, journalist Sevanti Ninan wrote that every time a media owner or journalist is nominated to the Rajya Sabha, “it provokes a passing bout of hand-wringing over journalistic independence”.
“But look closer,” she wrote, “and you see that it is more a matter of confirming an ideological or political belief that was already there, or of a professional journalist who, for her/his own reasons, is willing to to enter politics. the solutions she/he thinks it offers.”
Harivansh Naranjan Singh
In 2018, this first MP became the Deputy Speaker of the Rajya Sabha. Though Harivansh Naranjan Singh of the Nitish Kumar-led JD(U) had briefly worked as an advisor to former Prime Minister Chandra Shekhar, he always preferred his profile as a journalist.
Arun Shourie
The veteran Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader was the editor of The Indian Express And The times of India. He was nominated as a Rajya Sabha MP by the BJP from Uttar Pradesh in 1998 and remained in the Upper House until 2010.
He served as Minister of Communications and Information Technology in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government. He also held the portfolio of minister of disinvestment.
Rajeev Shukla
The Congress leader had been a veteran Hindi journalist and TV host. He worked for Jansattathe Hindi daily of the Express group, and Ravivar magazine.
Shukla hosted a popular TV interview show Rubaru from the mid-1990s to the early 2000s. Excerpts from his interview with Narendra Modi in 2001 went viral in 2016 when Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal issued a request for information about the educational qualification of the Prime Minister submitted.
Shukla was nominated to the Rajya Sabha in 2000 and later joined the Congress.
Chandan Mitra
Chandan Mitra started as an assistant editor of The statesman in Calcutta. He later moved to the Times of India in Delhi and then in The Sunday observer, which he left as editor. He then joined the Hindustani times as editor-in-chief.
He was nominated to the Rajya Sabha in 2003 and was given another term as the BJP MP from Madhya Pradesh in June 2010.
MJ Akbar
MJ Akbar is a veteran journalist who launched India's first weekly political news magazine, Sundayin 1976, and two daily newspapers, The Telegraph And The Asian era in 1989 and 1994.
He was editor-in-chief of India today And The Sunday Guardian, a weekly magazine he founded. He has also been associated with the Deccan Chronicle.
In 2014, he joined the BJP as its spokesperson and in July 2015, he was elected to the Rajya Sabha from Jharkhand.
In July 2016, he was inducted into the Union Council of Ministers.
Subhash Chandra
Zee Group founder Subhash Chandra joined the Rajya Sabha as a BJP nominee. Subhash Chandra was also accused of “anchoring his media house” with the ruling BJP.
He was elected to the Upper House from Haryana in the 2016 Rajya Sabha elections as an independent candidate, supported by BJP lawmakers.
On May 31, 2022, Subhash Chandra filed his nomination from Rajasthan for elections to the Rajya Sabha as an independent candidate supported by the BJP, but he lost the election.
Shobana Bhartia
Shobana Bhartia is the Chairman and Editor-in-Chief of HT Media. She was nominated to the Rajya Sabha by the Indian National Congress in 2006.
Rajeev Chandrasekhar
Rajeev Chandrasekhar is the founder of Asianet News Online Private Ltd, which among other things runs news channels Asianet news, Suvarna news And Newsable. Chandrasekhar had also briefly invested in ARG Outlier Media, the holding company of Republic TV.
Rajeev Chandrasekhar has been a member of the Rajya Sabha for three terms since 2006, nominated by the BJP. He is currently the Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology in the Narendra Modi government.
Swapan Dasgupta
Swapan Dasgupta is a journalist who has held various editorial positions in publications such as the Indian Express, Times of India, Statesman And India today.
He was nominated to the House of Representatives by former President Ram Nath Kovind, a month after he resigned from the Rajya Sabha and unsuccessfully contested the West Bengal Assembly elections on a BJP ticket.
Swapan Dasgupta was initially nominated to the Rajya Sabha in April 2016 and his original term was set to end in 2022.
(Disclaimer: Shobana Bhartia is the Chairman and Editor-in-Chief of HT Media)
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Published: Feb 13, 2024 06:15 IST
