Foreign Minister and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Leader S Jaishankar on Tuesday took oath as Rajya Sabha member after being elected to the Upper House of the Parliament from Gujarat.
Bharatiya Janata Party Candidates S Jaishankar and Jugal Lokhandwala Thakor were elected to Rajya Sabha in the by-polls held on Friday. The two vacancies were created after the election of BJP Chief Amit Shah and Smriti Irani to the 17th Lok Sabha.
External Affairs Minister @DrSJaishankar takes oath as Rajya Sabha MP https://t.co/jLHSxnEVu2 via @YouTube
— Rajya Sabha TV (@rajyasabhatv) July 8, 2019
READ: Gujarat Rajya Sabha By-polls: BJP claims Victory on Both Seats; S Jaishankar says ‘Deeply Honored’
The Union Minister bagged 104 votes against 70 votes secured by his rival candidate Gaurav Pandya of Congress.
Elections to fill vacant seats of Rajya Sabha saw a dramatic turn of events on Friday. Two Congress rebel MLAs – Alpesh Thakor and Dhavalsinh Zala – went against the party line and voted for BJP Nominees. Both tendered their resignation from the house after casting their vote.
After being elected to Rajya Sabha MP Foreign Minister S Jaishankar said that he is deeply honored to be elected from the ‘Vibrant Gujarat’. ‘Deeply honoured to be elected to the Rajya Sabha from the vibrant state of Gujarat. Express my gratitude to all those who have placed so much faith in me’, said S Jaishankar on Saturday in a tweet.
Deeply honoured to be elected to the Rajya Sabha from the vibrant state of Gujarat. Express my gratitude to all those who have placed so much faith in me.
— Dr. S. Jaishankar (Modi Ka Parivar) (@DrSJaishankar) July 6, 2019
Union External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar formally joined Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on June 24. He has been inducted in Narendra Modi‘s 2.0 cabinet as an External Affairs Minister.
He has replaced BJP Stalwart Sushma Swaraj as the latter opted out of the poll race citing her health issues. His induction in the Modi 2.0 cabinet has been praised by many experts saying that this will inspire confidence and further strengthen the US-India strategic ties.
S Jaishankar, a 1977-IAS Batch Officer, is a former diplomat who served as Foreign Secretary from January 2015 to January 2018. He was retired from the post in January 2018.
He had previously served as Indian Ambassador to the United States from 2014 to 2015, China from 2009 to 2013 and the Czech Republic from the year 2001 to 2004.
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