It was Prime Minister’s third campaign in Tamil Nadu in three weeks.

Chennai:

Prime Minister Narendra Modi conducted a massive rally in Salem in western Tamil Nadu, a stronghold of BJP’s former ally AIADMK and the home turf of party chief Edappadi K Palaniswami.

It was Prime Minister’s sixth visit to Tamil Nadu this year and third campaign in three weeks including a roadshow at Coimbatore yesterday, where the BJP has a stronger presence. In 2021, the BJP won the Coimbatore assembly seat in alliance with the AIADMK. The strategy is to breach the Dravidian party’s bastion to expand its negligible presence.

Dr Ramadoss’ PMK joined hands at the Salem rally and showcased leaders from several smaller parties. Continuing his development pitch, Prime Minister Modi said he is targeting 400 seats in the upcoming elections, adding “Our tally will cross 400. We need to cross this for developed India, developed Tamil Nadu to become the third largest economy in the world and become self-sufficient.”

“Rahul Gandhi’s comments on ‘Shakti’ were an attack on the Hindu religion,” said PM Modi taking on the INDIA bloc and the ruling DMK.

“During the INDIA alliance’s first rally, its manifesto and intentions have been exposed. At Mumbai’s Shivaji Park, the INDIA alliance openly declared that it wanted to destroy Hinduism’s ‘Shakti’. In the Hindu religion, ‘Shakti’ means ‘Matrushakti’, ‘Nari Shakti’, Congress and DMK’s INDIA bloc is saying that it will destroy that Shakti,” he added.

DMK Treasurer T R Baalu said, “Prime Minister Modi says women shield BJP…Women were paraded naked in Manipur. Can he say this there? Did he go there to console women…If he speaks like that it means he has a fear of defeat.”

Tamil Nadu Congress Chief and MLA K Selvaperunthagai said, “He twisted what our leader said. Rahul Gandhi referred to the power that has taken over our institutions like Income Tax, Enforcement and CBI. It’s this power he called ‘Shakti'”.

The AIADMK’s exit has weakened the NDA in Tamil Nadu. With less than three per cent vote share for the BJP, the alliance is on shaky ground. While PMK’s entry would help increase its vote share, the BJP hopes Prime Minister Modi’s campaign blitz would break the jinx in Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

Earlier in the day, he held a roadshow in Kerala’s Pallakad, which the BJP leaders said was aimed at improving the prospects of the party in the state where its vote share dwindled between 2019 and 2021.

Pallakad, a Congress-held constituency, which was once a CPM bastion, saw the BJP as the second runner-up in the previous election.