PM Narendra Modi To Visit Chennai Next Week, To Unveil Many Projects

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to visit Tamil Nadu’s Chennai next week, where he is scheduled to flag off Vande Bharat Express along with many other development programmes. According to the schedule, Prime Minster Modi will also inaugurate the new terminal of Chennai airport and will also attend an event of the Ramakrishna Mission in Tamil Nadu.

Along with the opening of several projects, Bhartiya Janata Party is also planning for a grand welcome with over 30,000 people. The mass of people is expected to line up on the streets to welcome Prime Minister Narendra Modi. State Minister Annamalai who is also the co-in-charge of the poll-bound state has been supervising all the arrangements before his visit. 

A state officer unveiled the plans and said, “We are also speaking to the concerned authorities if we can arrange for a public meeting/meeting where the PM can address the party workers while he is here in Chennai, PM Modi is the biggest face for the BJP as the saffron party looks to make inroads down South, especially in Tamil Nadu.”

The latest edition of the radio programme ‘Mann ki Baat’, which was the 99th Edition of the series hosted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi had also spoken about the Saurashtra Tamil Sangamam. Recently, the nomination of popular music maestro Illayaraja to Rajya Sabha is an interesting indication in that direction. As a part of an exchange programme, Saurashtra Tamil Sangamam is slated to take place between April 17 to April 26, in Somnath, this year. 

According to historians, Mohamed Ghazni raided the Kathiawar district of Somnath in 1024. Individuals escaped to many different regions of the nation, including southern India. During the reign of Thirumalai Naicker, the King of Madurai from 1623 to 1669, the people, who were primarily weavers, remained in Madurai and produced silk garments for the royal families. For more than four centuries, they lived in Trichy, Tanjore, Kumbakonam, Salem, and other places. One of the strongest links between Gujarat and Tamil Nadu, two Indian states, has been this.

The Carnatic music composer Venkataramana Bhagavathar, the freedom fighter NMR Subbaraman, sometimes known as Madurai Gandhi, and the actor Vennira Aadai Nirmala are just a few notable residents of Saurashtra in Tamil Nadu.

According to the information available, more than half of the 12 lakh Saurashtrian residents who have settled in Tamil Nadu live in Madurai alone. The remainder is dispersed throughout, to name a few, Chennai, Salem, Thanjavur, and Tirunelveli.

Vande Bharat to be flagged off

However, the complete schedule for PM’s visit is not yet out. But, as per the information by Prime Minister’s office, PM Modi will visit the poll bound state on April 8, where he will inaugurate the projects worth Rs 294 crore, including Chennai-Kovai Vande Bharat Express and Tambaram-Sengottai train.

During his last visit to Tamil Nadu on November 11, 2022, PM Modi took part in the Gandhigram Trust Platinum Jubilee functions and the convocation ceremony of Gandhigram Rural Institute in Dindigul.

Inauguration of Chennai Airport’s new terminal

Initially, the launch of the new terminal was planned on March 27 and has now been postponed until April. The first phase of the integrated airport terminals, which cost Rs 2,400 crore to construct and covered 2.36 lakh square metres, has been finished at the Chennai Airport. 

After the foundation, the number of passengers would rise from 2.2 crores to 3.5 crores in a year once the terminal is fully functioning. The new terminal’s construction is almost finished, and machines have been installed and tested for handling passenger belongings and quick checking and dispatching of belongings. For the installation of all the devices, engineers from 12 airports are stationed on duty in the airport in Chennai.

The last two weeks have seen the work continuing day and night. The inauguration is now being delayed since the machines’ installation in the new terminal still has to be finished. The work is anticipated to be finished by the end of the month, and on April 8 or April 14, the prime minister will visit the Chennai airport to officially open the new terminal.