Prime Minister Modi to address public meeting in city on Jan. 23

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address a public meeting in Chennai on January 23 along with leaders of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in the state.

This will be Mr Modi’s first visit to Tamil Nadu in 2026 as the state is scheduled to go to polls in a few months. BJP’s Tamil Nadu unit is gearing up for the meeting.

BJP Tamil Nadu president Nainar Nagenthran and AIADMK headquarters secretary SP Velumani visited three possible locations on the outskirts of the city on Tuesday and inspected entry and exit points. They also discussed the security measures that need to be taken into consideration before finalizing the venue. The public meeting will be held in grand style, where AIADMK leaders and leaders of other alliance parties, including party general secretary and NDA’s Chief Ministerial face Edappadi K. Palaniswami, will share the stage with Mr. Modi.

Both the AIADMK and the BJP are pushing to finalize the NDA by holding talks with alliance partners and negotiating seat-sharing. BJP sources said the NDA is likely to expand further as more parties join the alliance.

Last year, Mr Modi visited the state three times. He inaugurated the new Pamban railway bridge at Rameswaram in April, inaugurated the new terminal at Thoothukudi airport and attended the valedictory ceremony of the Aadi Thiruvathirai festival in July and the South India Natural Farming Summit in Coimbatore in November.

Meanwhile, Mr. Nagenthran is scheduled to attend the Pongal celebrations to be held at Union Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting L. Murugan’s residence in New Delhi on Wednesday. Mr Modi and several senior BJP leaders are expected to join the celebrations.