NEW DELHI: Three weeks after being sworn in as Union Minister for External Affairs Subramanian Jaishankar on Monday joined the BJP.
He was later announced as one of the BJP nominees for Rajya Sabha byolls from Gujarat, the other being J M Thakkor.
BJP working president J P Nadda inducted Jaishankar into the party at a small function at the parliamentary party office in the presence of senior leaders, including national general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya and Rajya Sabha MP Bhupendra Yadav.
Two Rajya Sabha seats from Gujarat have been vacated after BJP chief Amit Shah and Union minister Smriti Irani were elected to the Lok Sabha recently.
Jaishankar was inducted into the Union Cabinet on May 30 and has to become a Member of Parliament within six months.
BJP leaders contrasted his induction with former Shiv Sena leader Suresh Prabhu in the first term of the Modi government. Prabhu had joined the BJP before he was sworn in as a Cabinet minister.
Meanwhile, the BJP on Monday netted a prominent Trinamool leader, Biplab Mitra, a former MLA.
A founding member of the Trinamool and a leader with considerable influence in Dinajpur area of West Bengal, Mitra had been miffed at the party for nominating Arpita Ghosh from Balurghat Lok Sabha seat.
Ghosh lost the elections.
The BJP has been on a spree inducting leaders from the ranks of the Trinamool.
Another defection
The BJP on Monday netted prominent Trinamool leader Biplab Mitra, a former MLA. A founding member of Trinamool he has influence in Dinajpur area of West Bengal.