(This story originally appeared in on Apr 22, 2016)

NEW DELHI: The BJP has decided to fill up the Rajya Sabha vacancies in the nominated category, possible before the Parliament session starts on Monday. Highly placed sources said the government has shortlisted BJP member and known baiter of the Gandhi family Subramanian Swamy , Malayalam actor Suresh Gopi, journalist Swapan Dasgupta, Olympic medallist Mary Kom , economist Narendra Jadhav and former MP and cricket commentator Navjot Singh Sidhu.Party circles have been agog with talk about journalist Rajat Sharma and actor Anupam Kher getting the nod. There are 12 nominated members in Rajya Sabha and there are seven vacancies at the moment. Though independent, the nominated members always vote along with the government and could bolster the NDA's numbers in the Upper House.Members are nominated by the President on recommendation of the government. Since the government can recommend names of persons having "special knowledge or practical experience in literature, science, art and social service", the discretion gives the ruling party or alliance a wide option to select people.It is this discretion that raises expectations among persons seen to be close to the establishment. Since the government appears to be keen on filling the vacancies, Suresh Gopi's name is being seen as beginning of the process.Though the fate of the GST bill — which is being opposed in its current form by Congress — will still depend on soliciting support from non-NDA and non-UPA members, support of all seven nominated members, if finalized, would be crucial. Key non-NDA and non-UPA parties like Samajwadi Party, AIADMK, BSP and BJD may together tilt the balance in favour of the NDA either by voting with it on certain bills or just by abstaining to bring down the half-way mark.Getting the majority mark on its own is still quite far off for the ruling alliance. However, the NDA may get a few additional seats in the biennial election which is to be held in July for as many as 54 seats.