There is a lot of debate regarding the nomination of industrialist Dhanraj Parimal Nathwani as the Rajya Sabha candidate from Samajwadi Party (SP).
His father Parimal Nathwani has reached Rajya Sabha from Jharkhand as an independent candidate with the support of NDA just a few months ago.
Now Dhanraj Nathwani has been made its candidate by the main constituent party of the opposition India alliance, SP. Because of this the debate has intensified on social media.
Assembly elections are going to be held in Uttar Pradesh next year, hence the elections for 10 Rajya Sabha seats from the state are being considered important.
According to news agency PTI, according to numerical strength in the assembly, the BJP-led alliance is expected to get eight seats and the Samajwadi Party is expected to get two seats.
On Wednesday, in the presence of SP President Akhilesh Yadav, Parimal Nathwani and Professor Ram Gopal Yadav filed their candidature for the Rajya Sabha elections.
After the nomination, Dhanraj Nathwani wrote on X, "I express my heartfelt gratitude and thanks to Honorable National President Mr. Akhilesh Yadav ji for making me the Samajwadi Party candidate for Rajya Sabha from Uttar Pradesh. Towards this new phase of public life, today I filed my nomination for Rajya Sabha in the presence of Honorable Akhilesh Yadav ji in Lucknow."
Samajwadi Party MLC Rajendra Chaudhary has indicated that the party will also field a third candidate. He said, "We will announce the name of the third candidate soon."
The Election Commission has issued notification for biennial elections for 11 seats of Rajya Sabha. These include ten seats in Uttar Pradesh and one seat in Uttarakhand.
The tenure of BJP leader and Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri, BL Verma, Samajwadi Party leader Ram Gopal Yadav, BSP's Ramji and six other leaders is ending on November 25.
Nominations have started from Wednesday and voting will take place on October 16.
The nomination of Dhanraj Parimal Nathwani is being considered a surprise in political circles.
When journalists asked how big a surprise it was to make a person close to the NDA a candidate, SP leader ST Hasan told news agency ANI, "You will see that surprises are going to happen. They are going to happen now and will happen in 2027 also."
He said, "We have brought him (Dhanraj Nathwani) away from the NDA."
When he was asked whether there is any coordination between SP and BJP, he said, "There can never be an alliance between SP and BJP. Neither do they have any coordination behind the scenes. If we break BJP, it will be a big achievement."
But many discussions are taking place on social media regarding Dhanraj Nathwani's closeness with top BJP leaders and Mukesh Ambani and some people have said that 'Nathwani has no connection with Uttar Pradesh, yet he was made the candidate.'
journalist Swati Chaturvedi wrote on
Another journalist Piyush Rai wrote on Twitter, "He (Dhanraj Nathwani) is currently the Group President of Reliance Industries and is considered very close to the Ambani family. He is also the President of Gujarat Cricket Association. He was elected unopposed to this post in 2022. He took over this responsibility in place of Union Home Minister Amit Shah."
Dhanraj Parimal Nathwani is the director of Reliance New Energy Limited and is the son of Parimal Nathwani, director of corporate affairs at Reliance Industries Limited.
Last June itself, Parimal Nathwani had won for Rajya Sabha as an independent candidate supported by NDA from Jharkhand. With this, Parimal Nathwani reached Parliament as a Rajya Sabha member for the fourth time.
According to the biodata of Dhanraj Parimal Nathwani, he is a strategic leader associated with the Indian industry. He oversees various business and institutional functions related to Reliance Industries Limited.
He is a board member of Reliance Corporate IT Park Limited and oversees the strategic work related to Reliance Jio's business in Gujarat including its Jamnagar manufacturing divisions.
He also oversees the activities of Reliance Jio Defense Systems Limited including engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) and infrastructure projects.
In the field of sports administration, he is the President of Gujarat Cricket Association (GCA). This association operates the Narendra Modi Stadium. Nathwani is also associated with many institutions related to education, environment, wildlife and heritage.
These include roles like Vice Chairman of Dwarkadhish Temple Administrative Committee, Member of Gujarat State Board for Wildlife, Member of Nathdwara Temple Board and Member of the Board of Governors of Pandit Deendayal Energy University.
Dhanraj Nathwani's father Parimal Nathwani is the Director of Corporate Affairs in Reliance Industries Limited and is a recognized face in the political world.
Apart from politics and business, he is also the President of Gujarat Football Association and a member of the famous Nathdwara Temple Board.
70 year old Parimal Nathwani once set up a soap factory in Mumbai after selling cold drinks. He did not stop here, after this in the 1990s he also ran around 40 PCOs from Vadodara, Gujarat.
But sometimes after trying his luck in the stock market, he had to go through stress due to huge financial losses. But in 1997, his meeting with Reliance Industries owner Dhirubhai Ambani changed the direction of his life.
Actually, Jamnagar land acquisition took place under the supervision of Nathwani. The world's largest refinery was established in Jamnagar on this land of Gujarat.
Parimal Nathwani did not look back after this and thus he came very close to Dhirubhai Ambani.
Nathwani is very important for Mukesh Ambani and Nita Ambani.
Due to his industry-related understanding, his stature grew and Nathwani got the opportunity to play an important role in the expansion of Jio network.
