Modi Coming Again to TN

Chennai: The BJP, as part of its election campaign, has decided to organize a massive roadshow in Chennai with Prime Minister Narendra Modi as the centre of attraction on April 9 when the candidates of the three constituencies in the city – Chennai North, Chennai Central and Chennai South – would be formally introduced to the people.

Planned in a grand manner, the BJP feels that the road show would be a historic occasion and is desperate to hold it in Pondy Bazaar in T Nagar. In the event of the police denying permission for the road show that would be held during day time when the locality would see heavy movement of vehicular traffic, the BJP has decided to take the matter to court.

With court’s permission the show would go on in the heart of Chennai, after which Modi would fly down to Trichy and then visit Vellore and Perambalur, addressing election meetings, BJP sources said.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah would also visit the State on April 4, 5 and 6 addressing meetings in Ramanathapuram, Thoothukudi and Kanyakumari and making stopovers in between to meet voters and seek their votes for the BJP candidates.

When Modi lands in Chennai for the roadshow that would be his sixth visit to the State after the Palladam meeting, marking the conclusion of State President K Aannamalai’s ‘En Mann, En Makkal’ yatra in February end. Since then Modi has addressed meetings in Madurai, Tirunelveli, Kanyakumari, Salem and so on.

It was at the Palladam meeting that Modi spoke in praise of AIADMK icons M G Ramachandran and J Jayalalithaa, hoping to win over the support of the cadre of AIADMK that had broken away from the NDA in September, 2023.

The BJP that has fielded 23 of its own candidates in various constituencies across the State has allotted the rest of the seats to its various allies for the April 19 elections to the Lok Sabha. The party has taken the elections seriously by campaigning vigorously.

Targeting the ruling DMK in the State, the BJP has been raking up several issues, the latest one being the controversy over the ceding of Katchatheevu to Sri Lankan in 1974 by the Congress government.

In a bid to change the enduring narrative that the DMK, which was in power in the State at that time, was not taken into confidence before handing over the islet in Palk Straits to the neighbouring country, the BJP came out with evidence, obtained through RTI, that the then Chief Minister M Karunanidhi did know about it.

Since the BJP’s bid is to at least come second the elections and emerge as the main opposition party in the State that has been consistently cold shouldering it whenever it went to the polls on its own without an alliance with the AIADMK or the DMK, it is leaving no stone unturned in giving a good fight.

Even on Tuesday, the BJP State headquarters saw a mass defection to its ranks from many other parties. The BJP functionaries are also active on social media and in television debates popularizing the party’s views and ideologies in the run up to the elections, besides holding campaign meetings.