After taking out a roadshow covering 2.5 km in Coimbatore on Monday, ahead of the Lok Sabha election, Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid homage to the 58 people who died in a series of bomb blasts 26 years ago — on February 14, 1998, in the city.
Amid shouting of slogans “Modi Modi”, “Meendum Modi”, “We Want Modi”, “Jai Shri Ram”, and “Bharat Matha Ki Jai” by the BJP cadre and supporters, who had lined up on either side of the road, Mr. Modi arrived at R.S. Puram, which was one of the places of the serial blasts.
He spent around four minutes at the spot, paying floral tributes to those who had lost their lives and also enquiring with S.R. Sekhar, State treasurer of the party, about the blasts.
Mr. Sekhar posted on X (formerly Twitter), “Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid a floral tribute to the victims of the Coimbatore bomb blast in 1998. I have reminded him of those tearful moments. He enquired about the pain I have endured as a survivor of the bomb blast. His gesture touched my heart deeply. I am proud to be a part of Modi Parivar!”.
People, including children and the elderly, started arriving at the venue at R.S. Puram from 4 p.m. and waited behind barricades for almost three hours. A group of people that had come from tribal hamlets in the district performed the traditional dance as they waited for Mr. Modi to arrive.
Prabha, a local resident who had come with her children, said she was a big fan of Mr. Modi.
“The Prime Minister is paying tribute to all those who died in the bomb blasts, including Muslims,” K. Annamalai, BJP State president, told presspersons earlier in the day.
It was a ‘saffron wave’ from Mettupalayam Road to R.S. Puram as Mr. Modi, flanked by Mr. Annamalai and Union Minister L. Murugan, waved to the public from an open vehicle, covering the 2.5-km stretch. The party had put up stages in about 20 locations for the beneficiaries of various schemes to see Mr. Modi.
BJP flags, masks resembling Mr. Modi, and showers of bright marigold petals were seen all through the stretch. The crowd chanted ‘Meendum Modi, Vendum Modi’.
The BJP cadre made several announcements asking the crowd to cooperate with the police. “PM Modi represents development, modernisation and self-reliance. With this roadshow, we are sure that the BJP is doing well in Tamil Nadu,” said P. Kathiravan, a BJP ground-level worker.
Members of the Toda tribe from the Nilgiris district were seen at the roadshow, holding placards in support of Mr. Modi. “The BJP is not just for one religion or caste, and we welcome Mr. Modi to Coimbatore. In fact, we urge him to visit the Nilgiris,” said Pepraj, a tribesperson.
The roadshow also witnessed the display of several traditional art forms of the State such as Kummiattam, Kollattam, and Kattaiyattam.
Despite regulations barring schools from engaging students in election campaigns, around 50 students from classes VI to VIII of a government school in the city, accompanied by a few teachers, were seen at the event. They claimed they were instructed by the school to assemble at the Sai Baba Colony junction.
In response, Chief Education Officer M. Balamurali said schools were instructed to refrain from such practices. “We will investigate this matter further,” he added.
On one of the stages, a statue of poet-saint Tiruvalluvar was adorned with a saffron shawl initially. However, it was replaced with a white shawl shortly.
