Actor-turned-BJP leader Roopa Ganguly was on Tuesday nominated to the Rajya Sabha, an official statement said.

A Home Ministry release said she had been nominated to the upper house by President Pranab Mukherjee to fill a vacancy of a nominated member. 

The vacancy had arisen following the resignation of cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu of the Bharatiya Janata Party from the upper house.

Ganguly, who had come into the limelight with her role of Draupadi in television serial "Mahabharat", joined BJP in 2015, ahead of the West Bengal assembly elections in 2016 which she contested. She however lost from Howrah North to Trinamool Congress candidate and cricketer Laxmi Ratan Shukla.

In the Rajya Sabha, she will be in the company of former cricketer Sachin Tendulkar, actor Rekha, columnist Swapan Dasgupta and BJP leader Subramanian Swamy, who are among the nominated members.