Prime Minister Narendra Modi will attend his maiden public meeting in Madurai today.

The Prime Minister will address an official meeting after laying the foundation stone for an All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) at Thoppur and inaugurating a slew of buildings and schemes in the State.

Later, he would address a public meeting organised by the BJP at the Vajpayee grounds. Both the meetings are being organised at the same venue in Mandela Nagar, along the Inner Ring Road, with separate stages.

Vaiko leads protest at Madurai Periyar bus stand

Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) general secretary Vaiko, who is protesting at the Madurai Periyar bus stand junction, says he will not leave till Prime Minister Modi leaves Madurai. 

Showing black flags and setting off black balloons, Mr. Vaiko says, "Laying foundation stone for the AIIMS now was nothing but a political stunt and well timed ahead of the Lok Sabha election." Speaking to The Hindu, Mr. Vaiko said that the BJP cannot set its foot in Tamil Nadu and the party would be shown the doors in the LS elections. "This was the beginning of the end", he claimed.

"We are not against the police. You are Tamil too. We are against PM Narendra Modi who has betrayed Tamils," he says.

What does his visit mean?

There have been reports in sections of the media that the PMK, the DMDK and the Puthiya Tamizhagam may be part of a possible AIADMK-BJP coalition, despite repeated assertions by leaders of the AIADMK, the BJP and the PMK that such reports are speculative in nature and that nothing has been finalised.

What is evident is that the BJP is keen on boosting its footprint in Tamil Nadu, at a time when the State’s two dominant leaders – M. Karunanidhi and Jayalalithaa – are no longer in the political scene. After all, the last time the BJP put up a modest performance in the State was 20 years ago.

Tight security in place

The police have put in place elaborate security arrangements, deploying around 5,000 personnel around the venue in Mandela Nagar. A team of the Special Protection Group is closely monitoring the arrangements.