By IANS
Chennai : Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Chennai Monday morning to a muted welcome enforced by tight security and stepped up protests from outfits opposed to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Modi was in Chennai to take part in the 37th annual day celebrations of Tamil magazine Tughlaq, run by journalist, political satirist and former MP Cho Ramaswamy.
Senior state BJP leaders including L. Ganesan and S. Thirunavukkarasu as well as his host Cho welcomed him.
Modi was scheduled to have lunch with AIADMK chief J. Jayalalitha amid speculation that the two would discuss possibilities of their parties joining hands again.
Senior BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad will also attend the lunche meeting on the first day of Pongal, the harvest festival of Tamil Nadu.
Modi will also visit the state BJP headquarters. He will meet Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and Hindu Munnani leaders too. The RSS office at Chetpet and Hindu Munnani office at Chintadripet along with the T. Nagar office of the BJP were placed under heavy security.
Jayalalitha’s house at Poes Garden was also under a security blanket, with the Chennai police mounting “maximum vigil”.
Kamaraj Arangam, an auditorium on Mount Road and close to Poes Garden, where Modi was scheduled to address the Tughlaq function Monday evening, was teeming with police dogs and uniformed men scanning every inch as large cut-outs of Modi waited to greet him.
Police sources said the union home ministry, the Intelligence Bureau and allied organisations had sent alerts to the state to mount extra vigil and ensure Modi’s safety, as the Dalit Panthers and several other outfits had opposed his visit.
Earlier Monday, Modi visited the Sree Krishna Temple at Guruvayoor in the neighbouring state of Kerala.
“The setbacks that they (the Congress) received in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh (assembly elections last month) have forced them not to go ahead with a snap poll. They know about it and would prefer delaying the polls,” said Modi, who offered prayers at the famous temple early in the morning and was weighed against lotus flowers and then against plantains. He weighed in at 92 kg.