PM MODI WADES INTO BLACK SEA
THOUSANDS OF BLACK BALLOONS WITH WORDS ‘GO BACK MODI’ INSCRIBED ON THEM GREET PM AS HE ARRIVES IN TN
In one of the biggest ‘black’ demonstrations ever staged against a Prime Minister in the country, thousands of black balloons with the words ‘Go Back Modi’ printed on them were flown in Chennai and elsewhere in Tamil Nadu when Narendra Modi arrived to inaugurate the Defence Expo 2018 at Tiruvidandhai near here.
The Cauvery protest led to massive traffic jams in and around the airport and Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had to get down from her car and walk for about a kilometre to reach the airport and receive the Prime Minister.
The DMK-led opposition and fringe parties resorted to the novel protest to record their opposition to the non-constitution of the Cauvery Management Board since the Prime Minister sought to avoid road travel and instead chose to fly down to the venue on a helicopter.
Interestingly, PM Modi avoided any reference to the Cauvery in his public speeches. A group of students – some dressed in black - of the IIT Madras held placards and raised slogans as his convoy passed by. The media was not allowed on the convoy route.
Black flags were hoisted atop many buildings, including the DMK headquarter, and at the houses of its president M Karunanidhi, working president M K Stalin and other venues. Karunanidhi, who is confined to his home due to old age, wore a black shirt, while Stalin who is leading a Cauvery Rights Retrieval Yatra
in the Cauvery Delta districts, walked on the streets wearing black shirt and trousers. A giant hot air balloon, also in black with ‘Go Back Modi’ printed on it, was flown atop the house of former Chennai Mayor Ma Subramanian in Saidapet in Chennai. In fact, in the morning, the hash tag #GoBackModi was trending at number 1 spot on Twitter worldwide. A group of cadre belonging to a fringe outfit climbed atop a giant hoarding at the Chennai airport to wave black flags. Ace film director Bharathiraaja was among those from the film fraternity who had reached the airport to raise slogans against Modi. At some places, police were seen stopping vans transporting black balloons and bursting them. Similar black balloon and flag protests were witnessed all over Tamil Nadu.
One person was rushed to the Erode Government hospital after he greeted PM Modi with an attempted immolation. It was discovered that he had written messages condemning the PM’s visit on the walls of his house. Actor-turned-politician Kamal Hassan took to twitter to make an open appeal to the Prime Minister regarding the formation of the Cauvery Management Board. In his video, Hassan highlighted that the people of Tamil Nadu were of the opinion that the upcoming elections in Karnataka was the reason behind the Centre’s delay over the formation of the board. Urging the government to act fast, Hassan requested the government to take cognisance of the protests held in the state.