Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to celebrate Pongal, a harvest festival of Tamils, on January 12 by participating in an event organised by the Tamil Nadu unit of BJP in the temple city of Madurai.
Named ‘ModiPongal’, the event will include the cooking of Pongal, a dish, besides other programmes that showcase the vibrant Tamil culture.
Modi is likely to be in Tamil Nadu on January 12 to inaugurate 11 medical colleges from Virudhunagar, 60 km from Madurai. The 11 medical colleges have come up in Virudhunagar, Udhagamandalam (Ooty), Dindigul, Namakkal, Nagapattinam, Kallakurichi, Krishnagiri, Tiruvallur, Ramanathapuram, Ariyalur, and Tiruppur.
This is the first time Modi will visit Tamil Nadu after the DMK won the April 6 assembly elections. Though an ally of the Congress, the DMK is preparing to roll out a red carpet welcome to Modi during his visit terming him as “our guest.”
The government medical colleges are part of the ambitious plan to have one medical college for each district. Though it was M Karunanidhi who conceptualised the idea, the AIADMK government led by Edappadi K Palaniswami got sanction for the 11 medical colleges from the Centre.
Sources in Tamil Nadu BJP chief said ModiPongal will be celebrated in Madurai on January 12.
Last year, Congress MP Rahul Gandhi had celebrated Pongal near Madurai where he had come to witness Jallikattu, the traditional bull-fighting sport.
Annamalai constituted committees to organise the festival and accord a grand welcome to the Prime Minister. Modi’s visit and participation in Pongal festivities are part of the BJP’s concerted efforts to make inroads into Tamil Nadu. In 2021, BJP chief J P Nadda flew down to Chennai to participate in Pongal celebrations.
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