With Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi's Rajya Sabha term ending, no Muslim among BJP MPs

Apart from Naqvi, incumbent Rajya Sabha MPs from the BJP whose tenure came to an end in June and July are Syed Zafar Islam and MJ Akbar.  Islam's tenure ended on July 4, while Akbar retired on 29 June. The tenure of Roopa Ganguly will end on October 12.

This leaves the BJP with an opportunity to nominate three more members.

"As far as the question of Rajya Sabha is concerned, we would see some faces in the coming days when the presidential nominations are in the news. We have Muslim faces in leadership positions. In spokespersons, we have Shazia Ilmi, Shehzad Poonawalla, and Syed Zafar Islam. Be it organisation or the government, we are committed to representation from each and every section of society," Guruprakash, BJP National spokesperson, told CNBC-TV18 ahead of the announcement on the nominees to the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday.

Also in the recently concluded Rajya Sabha elections on 57 seats, there was no representation from the Muslim community.

"As far as representation is concerned, we have a very young leader from a backward Muslim community Danish who has been made Cabinet minister in Uttar Pradesh. We have Shahnawaz Hussain in Bihar who is doing tremendously well as an industries minister. Across all the sections, we have ensured representation. For the first time in history, a woman from the tribal community will be made the President. We got the opportunity 20 years ago, we made a Muslim president of the country. We believe in taking everyone along with us," Guruprakash said.

There is also a buzz that Naqvi may be the vice presidential nominee for the BJP. The nomination process for the August 6 vice presidential elections. Venkaiah Naidu's term will end on August 10.

The BJP had fielded six Muslim candidates in the 2019 general elections, but all of them lost the polls. In the 2014 polls, all the seven candidates also lost the elections. The BJP has 301 members in the Lower House of Parliament.