Modi congratulates BJP's 1st Rajya Sabha member from Puducherry

Modi in his tweet said, "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."

He said, "The trust placed in us by the people of Puducherry is humbling. We will keep working for Puducherry's progress."

BJP leader Selvaganabathy was elected unopposed from the lone Rajya Sabha seat in Puducherry after the deadline for withdrawal of nomination ended at 3 pm on Monday.

The opposition had not submitted a nomination for the seat while the election returning officer rejected the applications of five other independent candidates as they did not have the number of proposers required.

It was after several rounds of negotiations between the NDA alliance partners -- BJP and AINRC -- that the name of S Selvaganabathy was finalised. Chief Minister N Rangasamy of the AINRC had objected to the BJP getting the RS seat.

He expressed his displeasure over the BJP nominating three party leaders under the nominated quota of legislators without consulting the Chief Minister and he had proposed the name of Malladi Krishna Rao, who was instrumental in several former Congress leaders jumping fence and joining AINRC and BJP, before the 2021 Assembly elections.

Selvaganabathy is associated with the RSS for long and was one of the three nominated legislators of the BJP in the previous 14th Puducherry Assembly.

BJP President JP Nadda also congratulated Selvaganabathy on his selection as the first BJP leader to represent the UT of Puducherry in Rajya Sabha.