President Droupadi Murmu on Friday, March 8, nominated entrepreneur and Infosys chairperson Sudha Murthy as the Rajya Sabha MP. 

Expressing happiness over the nomination, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that her nomination reflected the BJP party’s women empowerment Nari Shakti scheme.

Sharing the announcement on X, the Prime Minister wrote,  “I am delighted that the President of India has nominated Sudha Murty Ji to the Rajya Sabha. Sudha Ji's contributions to diverse fields including social work, philanthropy and education have been immense and inspiring. Her presence in the Rajya Sabha is a powerful testament to our 'Nari Shakti', exemplifying the strength and potential of women in shaping our nation's destiny. Wishing her a fruitful Parliamentary tenure.”

Sudha Murty was awarded the prestigious Padma Shri in 2006 and Padma Bhushan in 2023. She has also received RK Narayan Award for Literature, the Attimabbe Award from the government of Karnataka for excellence in Kannada literature in 2011 and  Lifetime Achievement by Crossword Book Awards in 2018.

Born in Shiggaon in Karnataka’s Haveri district, she completed engineering from BVB College of Engineering. 

However, has courted controversies multiple times in the recent past over her statements. In a Youtube show, Sudha Murthy had said that she is scared that the same spoon will be used for both vegetarian and non-vegetarian food. While some deemed her statement to be casteist as ‘pure vegetarianism’ is often associated with Brahminism, others felt that ones dietary choices and habits must not be interfered with. 

Read: Anything but caste: Savarna body politics and the touch of meat 

In 2022, she met and took blessings from controversial right-wing leader and Shiv Pratishthan founder Sambhaji Rao Bhide during an event in Sangli, Maharashtra. In the Bhima Koregaon clashes that happened in 2018, Bhide was one of the men who was booked for instigating violence by sparking stone-pelting.