Chennai: Inaugurating infrastructure projects, invoking Tamil poets and hailing the state as “one of India’s growth engines”, Prime Minister Narendra Modi Saturday made a strong pitch to Tamil Nadu – where no national party has been able to dominate the political discourse for over five decades – just ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
In capital Chennai, the PM inaugurated infrastructure projects worth more than Rs 5,000 crore and pointed out that “Tamil Nadu has been allocated an all-time high budget of over Rs 6,000 crore for railway infrastructure”.
Emphasising the BJP-led NDA government’s focus on the state, the PM told a public meeting at Alstom ground in the city that “Tamil Nadu’s development is of priority to us”, adding that the projects he had inaugurated would be a big boost to the state.
“When top quality infrastructure creates jobs here, incomes rise and Tamil Nadu grows – and when Tamil Nadu grows, India grows,” he said. The PM also spoke about his love for “Tamil language, Tamil culture and the vibe of Chennai”.
At the public meeting, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK president M.K. Stalin spoke about the importance of the Centre’s support to state. “States have the duty to fulfil people’s needs. So, I would like to emphasise that the cooperation of the central government is necessary to meet the financial needs of states,” he said.
Stalin further urged the PM to release funds for infrastructure projects. “I urge the PM to expedite several ongoing important road projects. I request the PM to increase funds for railway projects in Tamil Nadu and for other pending projects in the state,” said the CM.
Modi had landed in the state at 3 pm Saturday and was received at the airport by CM Stalin, Governor R.N. Ravi, Union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, DMK MPs TR Baalu and Kanimozhi, and DMK state ministers Udhayanidhi Stalin and Thangam Thennarasu, among others.
The city was under five-tier security, with around 26,000 police personnel on duty in Chennai and Tambaram.
The BJP had organised a grand reception for the PM with cultural events, and a large number of party cadres gathered at multiple points along the routes where the PM and his convoy were to travel. They chanted slogans of “Modi ki jai” and “Bharat Mata ki jai” and showered the PM’s vehicle with flowers.
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We finish work even before time, says Modi
The first project inaugurated by Modi was a Rs 1,260-crore state-of-the-art Integrated Terminal Building (Phase-1) at Chennai International Airport. Stalin, Governor Ravi, Scindia and Minister of State Dr L Murugan were present at the occasion.
According to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), the new terminal building “will increase the passenger serving capacity of the airport from 23 Million Passengers Per Annum (MPPA) to 30 MPPA”.
The PM also flagged off the Chennai-Coimbatore Vande Bharat Express train, and inaugurated a Rs 294-crore gauge conversion section between Thiruthuraipoondi and Agasthiyampalli. He further laid the foundation stone for road projects worth Rs 3,700 crore, including a 7.3-km elevated corridor in Madurai and a 24.4-km four-lane road off NH-785.
While launching the projects, the PM drew comparisons with the erstwhile UPA government in power at the Centre (2004 to 2014). “Earlier, infrastructure projects meant delay but now they mean delivery. This journey from delay to delivery has happened because of work culture. We feel accountable for every rupee that our taxpayers pay. We work with a specific deadline and finish work even before time,” said the PM.
He also pointed out that while “Tamil Nadu has been allocated an all-time high budget of over Rs 6,000 crore for railway infrastructure, the average amount allocated per year between 2009 and 2014 was less than Rs 900 crore”.
Talking about the last nine years of the NDA government in power, Modi said that “between 2014 and 2023, nearly 2,000 km of national highways had been added in Tamil Nadu, while 800 km was added in the state between 2004 and 2014”.
In 2014-2015, the PM said, investment in the development and maintenance of national highways in Tamil Nadu “was Rs 1,200 crore which increased six-fold to Rs 8,200 crore in 2022-2023”.
The PM also drew parallels between the total infrastructure allocation in the country and said: “We have set aside a record amount of Rs 10 lakh crore for infrastructure – this is five times more than that in 2014. The amount set aside for the railways is also a record amount.”
During the events on Saturday, a lot of camaraderie was seen between PM Modi and CM Stalin, with the two leaders often spotted exchanging smiles and holding hands.
Stalin has, however, been one of the strongest voices against the BJP ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. On at least two public events hosted by the DMK since March, with many opposition leaders in attendance, the CM called for all like-minded parties to unite against the BJP.
PM refers to Tamil poets
The BJP doesn’t have a strong base in Tamil Nadu and could win only four of the 20 seats it had contested in the 234-member assembly in the 2021 state election. In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, it could not win a single seat from the state.
The party has thus been aggressively trying to expand in the state and PM Modi has made several attempts to forge a Tamil connection during his speeches in the past.
At Vivekananda House in Chennai Saturday, where the PM took part in the 125th anniversary celebrations of Sri Ramakrishna Math, Modi quoted the Tamil poet Thiruvalluvar and recited lines from the Thirukkural in Tamil.
He has quoted Tamil poets such as Kaniyan Poongundranar, Avvaiyar, Subramania Bharati earlier as well. During his address at the United Nations General Assembly in 2019, he quoted Poongundranar, saying “yaadhum oore yaavarum kelir (every place is one and all citizens are kin)”.
In 2020, addressing troops during a surprise visit to Ladakh, Modi quoted Thiruvalluvar and referred to poetess Avvaiyar in a 2020 ‘Mann Ki Baat’ address. During a visit to Chennai last year, Modi addressed the public with a popular verse of nationalist poet Bharati and said that in every field someone from Tamil Nadu was excelling.
Meanwhile, the Congress on Saturday tried to stage a black flag protest against the PM for “destroying democracy by undemocratically removing Rahul Gandhi”. According to reports, the police seized over 2,000 black balloons from the party cadre in Sathyamoorthy Bhavan, Thousand Lights, Royapettah and Anna Salai.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)