PT Usha, Ilaiyaraaja, V Vijayendra Prasad, and Veerendra Heggade nominated to Rajya Sabha

Tags: Popular National News

Music maestro Ilaiyaraaja, sports icon PT Usha, screenwriter V Vijayendra Prasad and philanthropist and spiritual leader Virendra Hegde were nominated to the Rajya Sabha on 6 July.

• The nominations were made after the term of Rajya Sabha of Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi of BJP and RCP Singh of JD(U) ended.

• Ilaiyaraja

• Ilaiyaraja is from Tamil Nadu. 

• In a career spanning nearly five decades, Ilaiyaraaja has composed songs in several Indian languages and won several awards.

• He has won national awards five times. In 2010, he was awarded the Padma Bhushan and in 2018 the Padma Vibhushan.

• PT Usha

• Usha, born in Kozhikode in Kerala, is India’s best known track and field athlete.

• She also runs the Usha School of Athletics for training young athletes in the sport.

• He has won 11 medals at the Asian Games, including four golds at the 1986 Seoul Games.

• She has been awarded the Arjuna Award and Padma Shri in the past.

• V Vijayendra Prasad

• He is from Telangana. 

• He is Telugu cinema’s leading screenwriter.

• He has been associated with the creative world for many decades.

• His works showcase India’s glorious culture and have made a mark globally.

• Sivaji Ganesan (1982-86), Vyjayantimala Bali (1993-99) and S Ramaswamy (1999-2005) are the other Tamil film personalities who have served as nominated members of the Rajya Sabha.

• Veerendra Heggade

• He is from Karnataka.

• He has been the ‘Dharmadhikari’ (custodian) of the Dharmasthala temple in Karnataka from the age of 20. 

• He established the Institute of Rural Development and Self-Employment Training to provide awareness about self-employment opportunities and to train rural youth.

• He was awarded the Padma Vibhushan in the year 2015.

• Nomination of Rajya Sabha members by the President

• Of the 245 members of the Rajya Sabha, 12 are nominated by the President on the recommendation of the government.

• They are nominated under Article 80(3) of the Constitution.

• As per Article 80(3) they should have special knowledge or practical experience in matters like literature, science, art and social service.

• A nominated member is allowed to join a political party within the first six months of taking membership.