Modi to launch NDA’s Tamil Nadu assembly poll campaign from Madurantakam

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will on Friday launch the National Democratic Alliance ’s (NDA) campaign for the upcoming Tamil Nadu Assembly elections with a mega rally at Madurantakam , near Chennai, marking the formal start of the coalition’s electoral push in the state.

Senior NDA leaders, including AIADMK general secretary and former chief minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami , are expected to share the stage with the Prime Minister. The rally is seen as a significant show of unity among NDA constituents in Tamil Nadu, with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), AIADMK and other allied parties joining forces to challenge the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK).

The campaign launch signals the NDA’s intent to mount an aggressive, high-voltage contest against the DMK government, focusing on issues such as alleged corruption, governance failures, development, and what the alliance describes as the ruling party’s confrontational approach towards the Centre. NDA leaders have maintained that the election will be fought on the plank of “good governance, transparency and development,” while positioning the alliance as a credible alternative to the DMK-led dispensation.

BJP’s Tamil Nadu election in-charge Piyush Goyal said the Madurantakam rally would set the tone for the alliance’s statewide campaign. “This marks the beginning of the NDA’s election campaign in Tamil Nadu under the leadership and guidance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Thiru Edappadi K. Palaniswami. It is the first step towards ending the DMK’s corruption-ridden government and ushering in good governance, opportunities and prosperity for every section,” Goyal said in a post on social media platform X.

Elaborate security arrangements have been put in place in and around Madurantakam, located about 87 km from Chennai, in view of the Prime Minister’s visit. A helicopter landing facility has been readied in neighbouring Chengalpattu district to facilitate Modi’s arrival, police officials said.

The rally is expected to kick off a series of coordinated campaign events by NDA partners across Tamil Nadu as the alliance seeks to consolidate anti-incumbency sentiment and present a united front against the DMK in the run-up to the Assembly polls.