Walking the ideal footsteps of BJP towards 'New India', EAM S Jaishankar takes oath as Rajya Sabha MP

New Delhi, July 8: Career diplomat and India's new External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar today diligently took the oath as Rajya Sabha MP in presence of Amit Shah, Nitin Gadkari and other ministers in the house. This is after he

officially became a MP on Friday by securing victory in the Rajya Sabha election held in Gujarat.

 

 

The candidature of S Jaishankar, who was India's foreign secretary during Narendra Modi-led NDA government's first stint, was backed by the Bharatiya Janata Party. He formally joined BJP on June 24 after he was sworn in as a cabinet minister on May 30.

 

Voting for the bypolls to the two vacant Rajya Sabha seats in Gujarat was held at the Assembly complex in Gandhinagar from 9 am to 4 pm Friday. Counting was taken up after the end of voting.

 

An IFS officer of the 1977 batch, Jaishankar has widespread expertise in nuclear diplomacy and relations with the US and China. He played an important role in negotiating the 2008 India-US civil nuclear deal. He is a graduate of St Stephen’s College and has a master’s degree in political science and an MPhil and PhD in international relations from Jawaharlal Nehru University.