Chennai, Jan 7 (BPNS)
The Tamil Nadu BJP which had announced that Prime Minister Narendra Modi would participate in a Pongal celebration named,’ Modi Pongal’ to be held in Madurai has now cancelled the programme in the wake of a surge in Covid cases.
BJP Tamil Nadu unit president,K. Annamalai in a statement on Friday said that the festival will be cancelled as the BJP was a responsible political party and that it would stick to the state government’s Covid protocol.
The BJP president however said that whether the Virudhunagar programme of the Prime Minister to be held on January 12 to inaugurate the 11 new medical colleges will be decided by the Tamil Nadu state government.
Meanwhile, after the CPI state secretary A.M. Naseer called for the cancellation of the National Youth Festival to be held at Puducherry from January 12, former Chief Minister and senior Congress leader, V. Narayanasamy has also called for the postponement of the festival. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is to inaugurate the National Youth Festival at Puducherry on January 12 marking the birthday celebrations of Swami Vivekananda.
In a letter to the Puducherry Lieutenant Governor, Tamilisai Sounderarajan, the senior Congress leader said that the conduct of the National Youth Festival amid the Covid surge would lead to the complete breakdown of the health infrastructure of the territory.
He said that after the New Year celebrations, the Union Territory of Puducherry has been witnessing an increase in the number of Covid -19 cases and that with youths from across the country coming to the territory it would lead to a super spread. Narayanasami said that the festival can be conducted at a later date once the situation returns back to normalcy.
