Gandhinagar: Parshottam Rupala, Mansukh Mandaviya, Naran Rathwa, and Dr. Amee Yagnik are now former Rajya Sabha members. They retired on 2nd April 2024 after a six-year term in the upper house of parliament.

Of them,  Rupala and Mandaviya are union cabinet ministers. However, they can remain ministers without being members of parliament. As per the rules, any person can become a minister without being elected as a member of the house for 6 months period. Both Rupala and Mandaviya are contesting Lok Sabha elections at present from Rajkot and Porbandar seats in Gujarat. The new cabinet will take oath after the general elections of Lok Sabha after two months.

Naran Rathwa recently joined the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP) along with his son Sangram Rathwa. Dr. Amee Yagnik has involved herself in the organizational activities of the Congress party in Gujarat.

Elections were held for these four seats in February this year. BJP’s national president J P Nadda, Surat-based Saurashtra origin diamond baron Govindbhai Dholakia, lesser-known BJP leader from the Central Gujarat Jasvantsinh Parmar, and North Gujarat-based BJP Gujarat Other Backward Class(OBC) Morcha chief Mayank Nayak were elected unopposed to the upper house. All four belong to the BJP. They shall formally become Rajya Sabha members after they take oath in the house. DeshGujarat