LUCKNOW: Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav has fielded Dhanraj Parimal Nathwani, a close associate of Mukesh Ambani and group president of Reliance Industries, for the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh.
Yadav accompanied Nathwani to the Election Commission’s office on Wednesday, where Nathwani and party general secretary Ram Gopal Yadav filed nominations. Yadav held Nathwani’s hand and escorted him to a chair in the commission’s office. After the nomination papers were filed, Yadav congratulated Nathwani and said that he would win.
The Samajwadi Party announced Nathwani’s candidature on Wednesday morning after Akhilesh had recently indicated that the party would field a “surprise” candidate.
Reacting to the nomination, Congress spokesperson C P Rai said, “It would have been better if the Samajwadi Party chief had fielded a party worker for the Rajya Sabha. He is concerned about the wealthy, not the interests of the people.”
Nathwani has been associated with the Jamnagar and Vadodara manufacturing divisions of the Reliance Industries. He is also a director in Reliance New Energy Limited. Interestingly, Dhanraj’s father Parimal Nathwani is a corporate affairs director at Reliance Industries and a fourth term Rajya Sabha MP from Jharkhand.
The senior Nathwani entered the Rajya Sabha as an independent candidate three months ago with open support from the NDA. His first two terms as an independent were also from Jharkhand, but he shifted to Andhra Pradesh in 2020 and was sent to the upper house by YSR Congress.
Elections for the 10 Rajya Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh are scheduled to take place on October 16. Based on the current strength of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly, the NDA is set to win eight seats and the Samajwadi Party two. However, sources say that Akhilesh is preparing to field candidates for three seats. The identity of the third candidate has not been revealed yet.
A close confidant of Ambanis, Dhanraj is a sports enthusiast and animal lover actively involved in wildlife conservation. He has been the president of the Gujarat Cricket Association since 2022. He was elected unopposed to the post and replaced Union Home Minister Amit Shah. He is also the vice chairman of Dwarkasdheesh temple in Dwarka, Gujarat.
The junior Nathwani is also a board member of Reliance Corporate IT Park Limited, which handles IT infrastructure, digital platforms, data services and real estate support functions for the Reliance Group. He leads Reliance’s engineering, procurement and construction vertical and supervises construction and infrastructure projects across the group.
SP to contest three seats
Elections for the 10 Rajya Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh are scheduled to take place on October 16. Based on the current strength of the Uttar Pradesh House, the NDA is set to win eight seats and the SP two. Sources say that Akhilesh is preparing to field candidates for three seats. The identity of the third candidate has not been revealed yet.