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'Glad to have met': Modi tweets picture with PT Usha, new Rajya Sabha MP
PT Usha met BJP national president JP Nadda on Tuesday, and he extended his congratulations to the former athlete for becoming a member of Rajya Sabha and wished her the best.
Prime minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday met renowned former athlete PT Usha, who took oath as a member of the Rajya Sabha earlier in the day. Taking to Twitter, Modi shared a picture of him standing beside the newly sworn-in legislator, with both of them smiling.
"Glad to have met PT Usha ji in Parliament," the PM's tweet read.
Usha and four others - including screenwriter V Vijayendra Prasad, spiritual leader Veerendra Heggade, and renowned composer Ilaiyaraaja - had been nominated to the Upper House by the ruling Bharatiy Janata Party (BJP).
The move was deemed an 'outreach' by the BJP since all four are from the southern states - in some of which it has failed to make significant inroads.
On Tuesday, Usha met BJP national president JP Nadda, who congratulated her for being nominated as a Rajya Sabha MP and wished her the best.
Nadda's office tweeted a photo of the former athlete standing beside him.
The nominations of Usha and the others were announced earlier this month. After this Modi took to Twitter to congratulate and hail them for contributions to their respective fields.
A 58-year-old native of Kerala's Kozhikode, Usha has been associated with Indian athletics since 1979. Nicknamed 'Payyoli Express' for her powerful sprinting capabilities, Usha won 18 gold medals for India at several international events between 1983 and 1998.
In 1984 Olympics held in the US, she tragically missed bagging India's first track-and-field medal after a photo-finish revealed she finished fourth in the 400m hurdle race by 1/100 second.
Usha was honoured with the Padma Shri in 1985, and honorary doctorates from the Kannur University in 2000, the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur in 2007, and the University of Calicut in 2018.
