Ex-Envoy Shringla, Historian Jain Named to Rajya Sabha

Shringla is a former envoy to the US and the UK, and served as the Chief Coordinator of India’s G-20 presidency in 2023; Jain, meanwhile, wrote the Medieval India NCERT textbook that the Vajpayee government had commissioned, and has also authored a book on the Ram Janmabhoomi

Former Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla and historian Meenakshi Jain were among the four people nominated to the Rajya Sabha on Sunday.

An alumnus of St Stephen’s College, Delhi, and Mayo College, Ajmer, Shringla was a topper in the 1984 batch of the civil services. He chose the foreign service and, in a distinguished career, served as India’s ambassador to the US, the High Commissioner to Bangladesh and ambassador to Thailand. In 2019, during his tenure as the envoy to the US, the “Howdy Modi” event was held in Texas. He was the foreign secretary from 2020 to 2022 and served as the chief coordinator of India’s G-20 presidency in 2023.Ex-Envoy Shringla, Historian Jain Named to Rajya Sabha"

Shringla has his roots in the Darjeeling hills in West Bengal. Last year, the work of his NGO Darjeeling Welfare Society, which he floated in May 2023, triggered speculation that he might be preparing for a bid for the Lok Sabha in the parliamentary elections. However, Shringla himself dismissed the speculation and the party renominated Raju Bista from the seat it has been winning since 2009.