Amit Shah to return to Chennai on Pongal; will meet Gurumurthy at January 14 Thuglak event

Union Home Minister Amit Shah will be in Chennai for the second time in two months, this time to attend a Thuglak magazine event on January 14. The senior BJP leader had earlier travelled to Tamil Nadu's capital on December 5 on a two-day visit during which he met RSS ideologue and Thuglak editor S Gurumurthy at a hotel. Home Minister Amit Shah's second Chennai visit and meeting with S Gurumurthy is scheduled to take place on Pongal as the race to the Tamil Nadu Assembly elections heats up. 

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Amit Shah's second visit to Chennai and his meeting with S Gurumurthy assumes significant importance as the saffron party is eyeing to make inroads in the southern state in the upcoming polls. Despite being an ally of the ruling AIADMK, BJP is aiming to establish itself as a strong contender to the Dravidian parties AIADMK and DMK. The senior BJP leader's visit may also address the friction between AIADMK and BJP over the CM-face for the elections. 

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Earlier, Gurumurthy's meeting with Amit Shah was speculated to have centred around Rajinikanth's entry into politics amongst other issues. Despite the Kollywood megastar announcing his decision to withdraw from taking the political plunge, S Gurumurthy did not rule out Rajinikanth's impact in the upcoming polls. The senior BJP leader's visit also indicates the saffron party's intentions to go all out in the upcoming polls in Tamil Nadu and West Bengal, with party chief JP Nadda, HM Amit Shah and all the union cabinet ministers expected to take out huge rallies and campaigns in the states. 

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Tamil Nadu Assembly elections

Assembly elections in Tamil Nadu are due during April-May 2021 and the political parties have started their campaign. While DMK's MK Stalin is eyeing becoming Chief Minister for the first time, AIADMK has arrived at reconciliation between two warring factions - of Deputy CM O Pannerselvam (OPS) and CM E Palaniswamy (EPS). Incumbent E Palaniswamy has been named as its CM candidate and O Panneerselvam as the chief of the 11-member steering committee.

The BJP is yet to make a formal announcement of the alliance with AIADMK and is in talks with Stalin's estranged brother MK Alagiri. On the other side, AIADMK has said that they are the big-brother within the NDA alliance. Meanwhile, Kamal Hassan is on a campaign trail and Alagiri has said that the launch of his political party will be in January. Superstar Rajinikanth who was about to launch his party this year has backed out due to health reasons. 

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