Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday hailed the election of the BJP’s first Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament from Puducherry, S. Selvaganabathy.
“It is a matter of immense pride for every BJP Karyakarta that our party has got its first ever Rajya Sabha MP from Puducherry in S. Selvaganabathy. The trust placed in us by the people of Puducherry is humbling. We will keep working for Puducherry’s progress,” Mr. Modi tweeted.
Mr. Selvaganabathy was declared elected unopposed to the sole Rajya Sabha seat in the Union Territory, on Monday, after the filing of nominations closed. As the deadline for filing of nominations ended, Mr. Selvaganabathy’s nomination was the only one to be accepted with the submissions of five other Independent candidates rejected for lack of required number of proposers.
It was after days of speculation, floating of other names and talks with the BJP’s Central leadership over the past few weeks that Selvaganabathy emerged as the final choice of the ruling NDA alliance led by Chief Minister N. Rangasamy to represent Puducherry in the Council of States.
Associated with the RSS for long, he was one of the three BJP nominated MLAs in the previous 14th Puducherry Legislative Assembly.
BJP president J. P. Nadda was also among the leaders to hail the election of the party’s first Rajya Sabha member from Puducherry.
