As a big development, on Wednesday, the Central government announced its nominated Rajya Sabha members, including renowned athlete P T Usha, legendary musician Ilaiyaraaja, philanthropist Veerendra Heggade, and screenwriter-director V Vijayendra Prasad. Interesting thing here, is all these personalities belong to the Southern states.
Eminent athelete PT Usha belongs to Kerala, whereas musician Ilaiyaraaja hails from Tamil Nadu, philanthropist Veerendra Heggade is from Karnataka where he heads the famous Dharmasthala temple and scriptwriter-director V Vijayendra Prasad, known for famous blockbusters like RRR and Bahubali, hails from Andhra Pradesh.
Congratulating the renowned athelete PT Usha, prime minister Narendra Modi tweeted:
“The remarkable PT Usha Ji is an inspiration for every Indian. Her accomplishments in sports are widely known but equally commendable is her work to mentor budding athletes over the last several years. Congratulations to her on being nominated to the Rajya Sabha. @PTUshaOfficial”
While PM Modi even congratulated the other three personalities too. For musician Ilaiyaraaja, PM quoted:
“The creative genius of @ilaiyaraaja Ji has enthralled people across generations. His works beautifully reflect many emotions. What is equally inspiring is his life journey- he rose from a humble background and achieved so much. Glad that he has been nominated to the Rajya Sabha.”
Whereas for philanthropist Veerendra Heggade, prime minister added:
“Shri Veerendra Heggade Ji is at the forefront of outstanding community service. I have had the opportunity to pray at the Dharmasthala Temple and also witness the great work he is doing in health, education and culture. He will certainly enrich Parliamentary proceedings.”
And for screenwriter-director V Vijayendra Prasad, PM Modi quoted:
“Shri V. Vijayendra Prasad Garu is associated with the creative world for decades. His works showcase India’s glorious culture and have made a mark globally. Congratulations to him for being nominated to the Rajya Sabha.”
The nomination of these four eminent personalities in Rajya Sabha from South India, is also seen as a part of the BJP’s plan to expand itself in southern states where the party, till now, either played a role of a junior partner in an alliance, or failed to win on its own.
