Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who was scheduled to visit Chennai on 14 January, which coincides with Pongal, has cancelled his trip. BJP president JP Nadda will visit the city instead.
Shah was said to be likely to participate in the Thuglak anniversary event in Chennai, scheduled for 14 January, which was to be held at Kalaivanar Arangam.
This would have been the Home Minister’s second visit to Chennai in two months. During his previous visit, he met the office-bearers of the state’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) unit after an official government event.
According to The New India Express, Nadda was scheduled to visit Chennai in December 2020 but had to call it off after he tested positive for COVID-19.
Nadda’s visit holds significance as the saffron party is eyeing to make inroads in the state for the upcoming Assembly elections.
Despite being an ally of the ruling All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), the BJP is aiming to establish its presence in a state that has been strongly dominated by the Dravidian parties – AIADMK and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK).
“The discussion at the event will be politics just like every year. There is nothing special about it,” Thuglak editor S Gurumurthy had told The Hindu.
The visit comes at a time when there is friction between the AIADMK and the BJP state unit over the chief minister’s candidature for the elections.
Apart from Nadda, other BJP leaders are expected to visit the state as well and hold huge rallies and campaigns.
The Assembly elections in Tamil Nadu are due during April-May 2021. While DMK's MK Stalin is eyeing the chief minister’s chair for the first time, AIADMK’s Edappadi Palanisamy and O Panneerselvam are looking for a hat-trick win.
The BJP is yet to make a formal announcement of their alliance with the AIADMK.
(With inputs from The Hindu and The New Indian Express.)
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)