Prime Minister Narendra Modi will on Sunday address a BJP rally in Tirupur, one of the many such rallies on the cards as part of the party’s campaign in Tamil Nadu. Modi’s next rally will be in Kanyakumari on February 19, a constituency where the BJP hopes to win with the candidature of Union Minister Pon Radhakrishnan.
The BJP is experimenting with several strategies in the state to woo beneficiaries of central schemes even as the PM’s last visit to Madurai to launch the AIIMS project and a public rally were mired in ‘Modi go back’ protests. The party’s IT wing is busy making videos of beneficiaries telling positive stories about centrally sponsored schemes.
Farmers were invited to attend the Tirupur rally and promised a front row seat in random messages circulated through social media networks by BJP leaders on Thursday and Friday. A senior leader, in-charge of ensuring the presence of at least 1,000 farmers at the rally, on Saturday said they have already made the arrangements. “The front row is reserved for VIPs. The second row will be for farmers and women leaders. We hope at least 2,000 farmers will use this opportunity to get a seat which is close to the stage. We are also making sure that not just elders, but youths also attend in large numbers tomorrow,” the leader said.
Modi’s Kanyakumari rally will also be significant as the BJP is keen to retain the seat. These rallies will also see the inauguration of several projects.
While the NDA alliance is yet to make an announcement on seat-sharing, Chief Minister and AIADMK leader Edappadi K Palaniswami will also be in Tirupur on Sunday when he is expected to launch a couple of government schemes along with PM Modi before the rally.
Multiple government sources said Modi is likely to inaugurate Chennai Metro’s AG-DMS-Washermanpet stretch on Sunday through a video conference. “Otherwise he will do it on February 19 during his Kanyakumari rally,” a source said. Few other projects in which Centre plays a role in funding and execution, including the Kanniyakumari-Kashmir four-lane national highway, are among those slated for inauguration during Modi’s visit to Kanyakumari.
