On the same day, BJP National President JP Nadda is also visiting Chennai to attend the 51st annual day celebrations of Thuglak magazine.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will visit Tamil Nadu on January 14, Pongal day, and witness a jallikattu event at Avaniyapuram in Madurai, the party’s state president KS Alagiri said on Tuesday. By attending the event at Avaniyapuram, the senior Congress leader will be lending his moral support to farmers protesting against the new Farm laws across the country, KS Alagiri told reporters in Chennai.
“The bull is a symbol of farmers,” he said, referring to the sport which involves chasing a bull and bringing it to a stop. Only Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palaniswami and his party the AIADMK supported the Union government’s three Farm laws and no other political party favoured it, he added.
Rahul Gandhi’s visit gains significance, coming as it does just ahead of the Tamil Nadu Assembly elections in 2021.
The Congress leader and Wayanad MP will be making his visit at the same time as BJP National President JP Nadda on January 14. JP Nadda is primarily visiting Chennai to attend the 51st annual day celebration of Thuglak magazine, edited by S Gurumurthy. Earlier, Union Minister Amit Shah was invited for the event but he has deputed Nadda instead.
Nadda is not expected to meet leaders from his party’s allies. However, he will be holding meetings with core committee members of the Tamil Nadu BJP. Sources from the BJP have told TNM that the party has started preparing booth committee lists and also begun their election work in all 243 constituencies.
The BJP leader is also likely to launch ‘Namma Ooru Pongal’, an initiative by the BJP to celebrate Pongal, in Thiruvallur on January 14.
Pongal and jallikattu events play an important role in the culture of Tamil Nadu. It may be recalled that in 2017, several lakhs of people gathered at the Marina Beach in Chennai protesting against the Supreme Court’s decision to ban the sport citing animal cruelty. After several days of protests, the Tamil Nadu government finally permitted jallikattu events to be conducted in the state.
Even as the coronavirus pandemic continues in 2021, the Tamil Nadu government has given permission for conducting jallikattu events in the state following precautionary measures to stop the spread of the virus.
Source: The News Minute