Chennai, Aug 9 (IANS): Puducherry Chief Minister N. Rangasamy called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on Tuesday. This is the first time the Puducherry Chief Minister had met the Prime Minister after assuming office 15 months before.

Rangasamy had drawn flak for not meeting the Prime Minister even as his political party, All India NR Congress (AINRC) was a coalition partner of the BJP. There were criticisms that even opposition Chief Ministers like Pinarayi Vijayan of Kerala, Mamata Banerjee of West Bengal and M.K. Stalin of Tamil Nadu regularly meet the Prime Minister despite strongly opposing the central government and its policies.

Rangasamy met the Prime Minister a day before the Puducherry assembly convenes on Wednesday and the government must pass the budget for the current fiscal before August 31.

The government of the Union Territory had passed a Vote on Account for Rs 3613 crore on March 31 and this was to meet the expenses of the territorial government for five months till August 31.

The Puducherry government in a statement said that the Chief Minister had an elaborate discussion with PM Modi on the statehood of the Union Territory and also extending the GST compensation.