CHENNAI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to visit Madurai on March 1, with a possible darshan at the Tiruparankundram Temple, BJP’s Tamil Nadu unit president Nainar Nagenthran said on Friday.
Addressing reporters in Tirunelveli, Nagenthran said the Prime Minister's visit was earlier scheduled for February 28 but had now been rescheduled.
"There are indications that the Prime Minister may visit the Tiruparankundram temple. People believe that following his visit, the long-pending issue of lighting the sacred deepam atop the hill could be resolved," he said, adding that residents had suffered due to the continued delay.
The issue that began with a petition seeking permission to light the lamp not only at the temple but on a stone pillar that devotees call Deepathoon (which the government claim is an old survey stone) near the hilltop temple snowballed into a political controversy and legal quagmire after Justice GR Swaminathan of the Madras High Court granted permission.
However, the district administration clamped down prohibitory order citing swell of functionaries from various Hindu outfits, which resulted in contempt proceedings.
That it happened in December, at a time when all parties are gearing up for the upcoming Assembly polls, helped the BJP and other Sangh Parivar outfits to catalyse the issue into an electoral weapon to attack the regime run by the rationalist DMK.
Though the fire has largely died down, Prime Minister Modi’s visit, if it happens, will bring it back to the political rhetoric in the election season.
Meanwhile, Nagenthran also launched an attack on actor-politician Vijay, questioning his political standing. "What qualification does Vijay have to criticise the AIADMK? He has not even served as a councillor," he said.
Reacting to Congress leader and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi's allegation linking Prime Minister Modi with the Epstein files, Nainar said, "Rahul Gandhi is a buffoon. There is no need to take his comments seriously."
Elsewhere, senior BJP leader and former State president Tamilisai Soundararajan accused the DMK of weakening Tamil Nadu's voice at the national level. "Prime Minister Modi is not afraid of anyone, including Pakistan. He understands statesmanship, while his rivals here indulge only in tactics," she said.
Terming the DMK's decision to send actor and MNM Kamal Haasan to the Parliament an unpardonable mistake, Tamilisai said his speeches had brought embarrassment to Tamil Nadu.
She added that the manifesto committee constituted under her leadership has begun district-wise consultations with traders, workers, and weavers to incorporate public demands, including GST rationalisation and urban employment schemes, into the party's poll document for the 2026 Assembly election.