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Educationist nominated as Rajya Sabha MP
In a notification, the Union home ministry said President Murmu has nominated Sandhu to the Upper House of Parliament
President Droupadi Murmu nominated Chandigarh University founder-chancellor Satnam Singh Sandhu to the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday.
In a notification, the Union home ministry said President Murmu has nominated Sandhu to the Upper House of Parliament.
The son of a farmer, Sandhu is one of India’s leading educationists, people aware of the details said. He founded the Chandigarh Group of Colleges (CGC) at Landran in Mohali in 2001 and subsequently, Chandigarh University in 2012, which found a place in QS World Rankings 2023, first among private universities in Asia.
Sandhu is also a philanthropist who is known to offer financial help to students for pursuing education. “He is actively involved in large scale community efforts to improve health and wellness and also to advance communal harmony through his two NGOs – Indian Minorities Foundation and New India Development (NID) Foundation,” a person aware of the details said.
Vice-President and Rajya Sabha chairman Jagdeep Dhankar posted on X: “I welcome the nomination of Shri Satnam Singh Sandhu ji to the Rajya Sabha. His rich work in community service and his passion towards education, innovation and learning will be big sources of strength for the Rajya Sabha. I wish him the very best for his tenure.”
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he is “confident the Rajya Sabha proceedings will be enriched by his (Sandhu’s views”.
“I am delighted that Rashtrapati ji has nominated Shri Satnam Singh Sandhu Ji to the Rajya Sabha. Satnam ji has distinguished himself as a noted educationist and social worker, who has been serving people at the grassroots in different ways. He has always worked extensively to further national integration and has also worked with the Indian diaspora. I wish him the very best for his Parliamentary journey and am confident the Rajya Sabha proceedings will be enriched by his views,” he wrote on X.
Sandhu thanked Modi for his wishes. “Thank you PM @narendramodi ji for the faith you have placed in me and the opportunity you have given me to become a small part of your monumental mission. There can be no bigger testament to the new India you are building than the fact that someone like me, from a humble family of farmers, has been given such an opportunity to voice the aspirations of the people,” he wrote on X.
“My life is devoted to one mission- to strengthen every effort you make for our nation and to build a Viksit Bharat by 2047,” he added. The President can nominate 12 members to the Upper House, of which only one seat remains vacant after Sandhu’s nomination.
Of the nominated members, five of them – Mahesh Jethmalani, Sonal Mansingh, Ram Shakal, Rakesh Sinha and Ghulam Ali Khatana – have opted to join the BJP. Ranjan Gogoi, Veerendra Heggade, P. T. Usha, Ilaiyaraaja and V. Vijayendra Prasad are independent members.
