Chennai: Prime Minister Narendra Modi kicked off the year of the 2024 Lok Sabha election with a visit to Tamil Nadu Tuesday where he sought to emphasise the state’s significance for him, and counter the ruling DMK’s criticism of the BJP as a party for “Hindi, Hindu and Hindutva”.
The BJP has been making an aggressive bid to gain a foothold in Tamil Nadu, where power currently alternates between the two prominent Dravidian parties, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), a former BJP ally.
On his visit, Modi inaugurated a new terminal building for the Tiruchirappalli international airport. Altogether, he inaugurated or laid the foundation stone for projects worth Rs 20,000 crore, spanning the sectors of roads, railways, ports, and petroleum.
In his address at Tiruchirappalli, also known as Trichy, Modi said Tamil Nadu was home to the ancient language of Tamil and a treasure trove of cultural heritage.
“I believe in the continuous expansion of the contribution of Tamil cultural inspiration in the development and heritage of the country,” he added, addressing the gathering as “enadhu kudumbame (my family)” after each long pause.
On foreign visits, he said, “I cannot stop speaking about Tamil and Tamil culture [whenever an opportunity arises]”.
The BJP, he added, has been keen on spreading Tamil language and culture, and noted how the ‘sengol (sceptre)’, which symbolises good governance and whose concept is rooted in Tamil Nadu, was placed in the new Parliament.
Modi also made a mention of the BJP’s Kashi Tamil Sangamam and Saurashtra Tamil Sangamam — initiatives that seek to deepen what is described as historical links between the places — saying they had bolstered the enthusiasm for Tamil culture throughout the country.
Political analysts said this visit by the PM should be seen as the “official start” of the election campaign in Tamil Nadu.
“With the 2024 elections around the corner, today’s event will have a two-point approach, one to draw the strategies for the 2024 polls, and, two, to consolidate the gains that they already have in the region,” said political analyst and writer Maalan V. Narayanan.
“Trichy has traditionally elected national parties. The current MP is Congress’s Su. Thirunavukkarasarand,” he added, noting that the BJP’s Rangarajan Kumaramangalam has been elected from Trichy in the past.
In his speeches in India and abroad, Modi has been known to quote Tamil writers like Thiruvallur, Kaniyan Pungundranar, and Subramania Bharati.
Political analysts say these are efforts by the BJP to fight the tag of being a “north India” party, and dispel the ‘south Indian-north Indian’ and ‘Hindi-Tamil’ divide.
Talking about Modi’s speech Tuesday, political analyst Sumanth C. Raman said dwelling on Tamil language and culture “is one attempt that he has been consistently using to blunt the DMK propaganda that the BJP is a pro-Hindu, Hindi, Hindutva party”.
“The local unit of the BJP generally struggles to dispel this DMK ‘propaganda’ and Modi is stepping in for them,” he added.
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DMK hits out over flood relief
Ahead of the PM’s visit, an article titled ‘Whose money is it?’ was published in Murasoli, DMK’s mouthpiece, criticising the BJP government at the Centre for allegedly not releasing flood-relief funds to the state in the aftermath of Cyclone Michaung.
The write-up accused the Centre of mocking TN for seeking funds. It alleged that while the DMK government had shelled out Rs 6,000 crore for relief, the BJP was running “false propaganda” to make it seem like the central government had provided the money.
During the terminal building’s inaugural event, Stalin, who was accompanying the PM, sought to reiterate the state’s demand for relief funds, and urged the Centre to declare the rains that lashed Chennai and southern TN last month, killing 45 people, a national disaster.
Addressing the public, Modi said he was deeply moved to see the devastation caused by the rains and floods in TN, adding that the central government “is providing every possible support to the state government”.
Discussing his government’s focus on Tamil Nadu, he said more than 40 Union Ministers had toured the state over 400 times in the past year.
During the tenure of the Congress-led UPA government at the Centre between 2004 and 2014, he said, states were given Rs 30 lakh crore, adding that the figure was Rs 120 lakh crore for the 10 years of Modi government.
Tamil Nadu, he said, had got 2.5 times more money from the Centre under him, as compared to the 10 years preceding 2014.
“For national highway construction, more than three times expenditure was done in the state and 2.5 times more money was spent on the railways sector,” he added. “Lakhs of families in the state are getting free rations, medical treatment and facilities like pucca houses, toilets and piped water.”
Projects launched
Modi’s itinerary in Tamil Nadu included attending the 38th convocation ceremony of the Bharathidasan University, Trichy, besides the inauguration of the new terminal building, built at a cost of over Rs 1,100 crore.
Modi said the building will increase the capacity of the airport by three times, adding that the airport will be crucial in strengthening connectivity towards east Asia, Middle-East and other parts of the world.
This, he said, would bring in new opportunities for investments, business, education, health and tourism.
The railway projects inaugurated included the doubling of the rail line on the 41.4-km Salem-Magnesite Junction–Omalur–Mettur Dam section, and the 160-km Madurai-Tuticorin section.
Three projects for rail-line electrification — for the Tiruchchirappalli-Manamadurai-Virudhunagar, Virudhunagar-Tenkasi Junction, and Sengottai-Tenkasi Junction-Tirunelveli-Tiruchendur sections — were also launched.
The road projects include the widening of a 39-km road for the Trichy-Kallagam section of NH-81 to four lanes. Apart from this, Modi laid the foundation stone for the construction of a 31-km four-lane road from Mugaiyur to Marakkanam of NH 332A.
The road will connect ports on the Tamil Nadu coast, enhance road connectivity to Mamallapuram, a world heritage site, and provide better connectivity to the Kalpakkam Atomic Power Plant.
(Edited by Sunanda Ranjan)
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