New Delhi: Sprint queen P T Usha, a nominated member of the Parliament by BJP, who traversed from the track and field arena to Rajya Sabha corridors, was seen in an unlikely seat in the House on Wednesday.
In the absence of Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar, she chaired the session which saw business as usual. Much like the sports arena, the Olympian was seen comfortably supervising the discussion though not with the élan as Dhankhar, a former seasoned politician. Dhankhar, who returned to his chair after some time, was in fulsome praise for Usha. "Her performance in on and off tack, now in the Rajya Sabha, was excellent," he said.
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Usha, who had earlier expressed her unwillingness to join politics, named the chairperson of the organising committee of the BJP’s national executive meet in Kozhikode in 2016 amid BJP leaders outreach before Assembly elections in Kerala.
After some coaxing, Usha, who finally agreed to join politics and subsequently nominated to the Upper House of Parliament, was greeted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, whio was quick to greet her with a tweet. “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,” PM Modi had tweeted then.
As a nominated Member of Parliament in Rajya Sabha Usha chaired the Rajya Sabha briefly on February 8 amid thumping of members of the Parliament on the desk when she took on the chair. Initially, she looked not much comfortable, but she managed the proceedings with ease asking the speakers to discuss on issues. Usha was recently selected for the panel of Vice Chairpersons by Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar.
