The BJP, on Wednesday, nominated Gujarat businessman Govind Dholakia for the Rajya Sabha elections. Dholakia, who filed his nomination papers on Thursday along with three other BJP nominees— BJP president J.P. Nadda, Jashvantsinh Parmar, and Mayank Nayak—is likely to be elected unopposed as no other party has fielded candidates.
Dholakia is the founder and chairman of Shree Ramkrishna Exports Private Limited (SRK), a Surat-based diamond manufacturing and exporting company. The diamond baron is also known for his humanitarian activities.
A first-generation entrepreneur, Dholakia started his company in 1970. According to his LinkedIn bio, he is the only Indian to be recognised with the 'Leadership Award by the US Green Building Council.
"With his leadership, SRK has evolved since its inception in 1970s from having a revenue of Rs 50 crores to now being a 5000+ member strong innovation-led company with total revenue of USD 1.8 billion," the bio reads.
In 2014, he founded SRK Knowledge Foundation for various philanthropic activities, including education, healthcare, and agriculture. Dholakia is associated with over 30 educational, medical, and social trusts in various capacities.
According to his LinkedIn bio, he is frequently invited by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO); IIM, Ahmedabad; and Symbiosis Institute of Business Management, Pune, among others as a guest speaker.
Dholakia had donated Rs 11 crore for the construction of Ram Temple in 2011.
"Being from a farmer family, my journey towards being a businessman has been rather happy. I got to know about my nomination only four hours ago. BJP leadership definitely must have put in a thought before finalising my name," Dholakia had said, reacting to the BJP's decision to nominate him for Rajya Sabha.
