Prime Minister Narendra Modi is embarking a crucial visit to Chennai on Saturday - April 8 to inaugurate infrastructural projects. Though there was no high-profile political rendezvous during his time in Chennai, it has now been reported that ADMK's General Secretary Edappadi Palaniswami (EPS) and his rival, estranged ADMK leader O Panneerselvam (OPS) will have separate meetings with Modi.  

EPS and OPS have certainly emerged as the greatest political rivals in Tamil Nadu in recent years and amidst their tussle, they have been publicly exhibiting that they are on the same page when it comes to securing BJP's support and meeting Prime Minister Modi. While Modi's current itinerary to Chennai trip has a packed agenda of inaugurating new terminal at Chennai Airport and Vande Bharat train service from Chennai to Coimbatore, it is less likely that both EPS and OPS will have a long rendezvous with the Prime Minister. 

Narendra Modi will land in Chennai on Saturday afternoon and according to our sources, both EPS and OPS will have not more than ten minutes each to meet Modi. As Tamil Nadu's Opposition leader, EPS would officially welcome Narendra Modi after he disembarks his plane and it would be the first time that EPS is coming eye-to-eye with Modi after getting elected as the party's general secretary. 

OPS has been fueling the battle by dissenting EPS's elevation as the general secretary and at a high time when the party is in a limbo, both the leaders have planned to seek Modi's support for their leadership. While the BJP has asserted that it would exercise alliance with the ADMK in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, the saffron camp has been distancing itself when it comes to the tussle between EPS and OPS. 

BJP has advocated both the leaders to unite and build a strong opposition ahead of the general elections. However, the battle between EPS and OPS gets intense. Recently, ADMK and the Tamil Nadu BJP unit had an episode of souring relationship with state BJP president Annamalai claiming that he will step down from his role if the party joins ADMK for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. His statement had sparked tensions in the state and pushed Union Home Minister Amit Shah to come up with the assertion that the BJP will travel with ADMK.  

As Modi's Chennai visit is becoming a part of his outreach to the souther states, political observers say that Modi's meeting with EPS and OPS would have less impact on ADMK as Modi and BJP are keenly concentrating on the upcoming assembly polls in Karnataka and they are not ready to prioritize the political crisis in ADMK at this moment. Both EPS and OPS would perhaps can't beat the clock to draw Modi's complete support. 

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.