Prime Minister Narendra Modi is hours ahead of landing in Chennai and as the clock ticks, the opposition's trends get intense on social media and at public places. Modi's Tamil Nadu visit has always been a moment of tensions and troubles for BJP and currently, Modi's outreach to southern states are met with setbacks and protests. 

In the morning hours of Saturday - April 7, Narendra Modi landed at Hyderabad to inaugurate various projects and in an unusual event, Telangana Chief Minister Chandrasekhar Rao, who is staunchly crossing swords with the BJP, has boycotted the gathering participated by Narendra Modi. The Prime Minister will be landing in Chennai and though he would be flanked by the grand welcome from the BJP, he would also witness the rampant trend on social media opposing his visit. 

This time, along with opposing Modi's visit, there are calls urging Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi to leave the state in the wake of his recent controversial speeches. On Thursday, while interacting with the civil services aspirants, Governor Ravi explained the role of the Governor in the Constitution and claimed that he has the option to give assent or withhold a Bill passed by the Assembly and said that the latter means that the Bill is dead. 

His remarks have sparked an uproar as they have come at a high time when he was facing criticisms over his delay in approving the Bill to ban the online gambling in the state in the wake of suicides. During his interaction, the Governor went on to say that the 2018 Sterlite protests, where dozens died after the police brutality, were funded by foreign agents. His remarks had shocked the state and triggered a new wave of outrage against him. 

Governor Ravi has already been surfaced with public outcry and these remarks have put him in badlight. As his remarks have come days ahead of Modi's visit, the Dravidian outfits are trending the hashtags of #GoBackNarendra and #GetOutRavi on social media. Furthermore, DMK functionaries have painted posters with hashtags #DictatorRavi and #GetOutRavi at various places in Chennai. 

Notably, the Congress party has also planned to conduct a 'Black Flag' protest against Modi in the wake of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's disqualification as an MP. Slamming the Governor for his remarks, Chief Minister MK Stalin said, "Governor, by escaping from his administrative duties and roles, didn't give assent to 14 documents like Bills, Ordinance and act, which was passed by people representatives who were all elected by crores of people." 

"This shows not only Governor does dereliction of duty and also total obstruction. If we put continuous pressure, for name sake Governor, by asking some clarification and he is returning the Bill thinking his responsibility is over", MK Stalin added. Narendra Modi will be inaugurating the new terminal at Chennai Airport that was built at a cost of Rs 1260 crore and he will also inaugurate railway projects worth Rs 294 crore, including the Chennai- Coimbatore Vande Bharat express and Tambaram-Sengottai express. He will also visit Vivekanandar Illam and would address a gathering. It has also been reported that he will have an interaction with the public for 20 minutes in Pallavaram, Chennai. 

Around 20,000 police personnel were deployed around the city and the government has announced several detours as key roads in the city where Modi would travel have been blocked. Wrapping up his Chennai visit, Modi will leave to Mysuru on Saturday evening and on Sunday, he will take a chopper from Mysuru and visit the Theppakadu elephant camp in The Nilgiris district of Tamil Nadu. Notably, he will meet the mahouts Bomman and Belli, who acted in the documentary 'The Elephant Whisperers' that won Oscars at the 95h Academy Awards. 

#WATCH | Tamil Nadu: Posters with hashtags 'Get out Ravi' and 'Dictator Ravi' were seen at various places in Chennai today. pic.twitter.com/oynXY7mvu2

— ANI (@ANI) April 8, 2023