Efforts by the DMK-led Opposition parties to play spoilsport during the whirlwind tour of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Chennai on Thursday to show their resentment over the failure of the Centre to constitute the Cauvery Management Board did not create much impact because of the security blanket thrown over the city by the Tamil Nadu Police and central intelligence agencies. Nearly 3,000 activists belonging to various outfits have been taken into preventive custody by the State Police to make the Prime Minister's visit a hassle-free event.
The DMK had threatened to wave black flags at the Prime Minister during his visit to Chennai to inaugurate the Defence Expo 2018 which began in a city suburb on Wednesday.
Prime Minister Modi who landed at Chennai International Airport by a special aircraft on Thursday morning took off by an IAF helicopter to the venue of the Defence Expo 2018 being held at the East Coast Road. The DMK had hoisted black flags atop the residence of party president M Karunanidhi at Gopalapuram, the party headquarters at Teynampet and the imposing residence of party working president M K Stalin.
Karunanidhi, who is ailing for the last two years, was made to wear a black shirt for the day by his third wife Rajathi Ammal and the video was circulated among the TV channels. likewise Stalin who is undertaking a walkathon in the Cauvery Delta districts demanding the constitution of the Cauvery Management Board, staged a demonstration wearing black shirts and trousers.
Some of the public places in Chennai had been “decorated” with black flags. It is doubtful whether these incidents caught the attention of the Prime Minister. There are reports that the Tamil chauvinist groups had the tacit support of the AIADMK government to stage black flag demonstration against the Prime Minister. “Chief Minister Edappady Palaniswamy did not want the DMK to get the full credit for the protests against the Centre over the delay in constituting the CMB. It is to be noted that Palaniswamy submitted a memorandum to the Prime Minister on Thursday pleading for the early constitution of the CMB,’ said an intelligence official.
Prime Minister Modi, after the inauguration of the Defence Expo, watched the demonstration by some of the state-of-the-art battle tanks, armoured personnel carriers, air crafts and naval vessels. later he arrived in the specially built helipad in the IIT Madras campus and attended a function held at Adyar Cancer Centre.
Some of the Tamil chauvinist activists tried innovative ways to bring to the attention of the Prime Minister the “Black Welcome” they had planned for him. One of the groups even flew hydrogen filled balloons in the city skylines.