Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been on an extensive South India tour. In the morning hours of Thursday - May 26, he had arrived in Hyderabad and by 5.30 pm during the same day, he will embark on a visit to Chennai where he will be attending various events. Narendra Modi's tour to Chennai has gained the spotlight as it is the first time that Modi is visiting Tamil Nadu after DMK came to power in the state. 

The Prime Minister comes up with a well-packed agenda and his arrival has spurred a fresh political dispute between the BJP and the voices that are against his visit. Ahead of his landing, Twitter took off with the digital war where Modi's supporters welcomed him to Chennai while his critics have been trending the hashtag #GoBackModi on social media. 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi would be dedicating a slew of completed projects and lay the foundation stone for 11 projects including a highway project between Bengaluru and Chennai, totally worth Rs 31,000 crore during his Chennai visit. He would be inaugurating five projects to the nation worth nearly Rs 3,000 crore. The inauguration event would be attended by Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi, Union Ministers Nitin Gadkari and Ashwini Vaishnaw, and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin. 

The event would be hosted by Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium and it would also witness the inauguration of 1,152 houses constructed as part of the Light House Project - Chennai, built at a cost of Rs 116 crore under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana -Urban. The Prime Minister would also lay the foundation stone of six projects, worth over Rs 28,000 crore. 

The 262 km long Bengaluru-Chennai Expressway would be built at a cost of Rs 14,870 crore. This expressway would pass through the states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu and it would reduce the travel time between Chennai and Bengaluru by two to three hours. The Prime Minister will also inaugurate the 75 km long Madurai-Theni (Railway Gauge Conversion Project), in southern Tamil Nadu, built at a cost of over Rs 500 crore. It would augment tourism in the region. 

Another crucial project is the construction of the 4-lane double-decker elevated road connecting Chennai Port to Maduravoyal, about 21 km. It would be built at a cost of over Rs 5,850 crore. According to reports, the foundation stones would also be laid for the redevelopment of five railway stations in Tamil Nadu - Chennai Egmore, Rameswaram, Madurai, Katpadi, and Kanyakumari. 

This project would be completed at a cost of over 1,800 crores and is being undertaken to augment the convenience and comfort of passengers by providing modern amenities. Narendra Modi would also lay the foundation stone of a Multi-Modal Logistic Park in Chennai worth around Rs 1,430 crore. It would provide seamless intermodal freight movement and would also offer multiple functionalities. In the view of the Prime Minister's arrival, around 20,000 police personnel have been deployed across the city and he will be departing Chennai at around 7.30 pm to Delhi.