New Delhi, July 4: BJP spokesperson Nirmala Sitharaman is tipped for a Rajya Sabha berth from Gujarat, sources in the central and Gujarat party units have said.

Sources said chief minister Narendra Modi, whose writ runs on central appointments concerning his state, was “okay” with the choice. “He has watched her on TV discussions and observed how vociferously she defended him on controversies relating to the 2002 violence, including the most recent one on the alleged destruction of the riot documents by the government,” a Gujarat BJP source said.

The Gujarat BJP’s parliamentary party is expected to meet on Wednesday in Gandhinagar to clear the two nominations. The second one might go to an incumbent MP, Surendra Patel, scheduled to retire on July 22.

Asked if a Rajya Sabha nomination was in the offing, Nirmala said: “I haven’t been sounded out.”