Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will join thousands of people in watching jallikattu (bull-taming sport) in Avaniapuram near Madurai on January 14 during the Pongal festivities, as part of his Tamil Nadu outreach ahead of the assembly polls due in April-May.
Gandhi's attendance at the jallikattu event will mark the beginning of Rahulin Tamil Vanakkam (Rahul's Tamil Welcome) campaign that is likely to take him to various parts of Tamil Nadu in the run up to the assembly elections. He is likely to address a rally in the Western part of the state in the next few weeks.
“Rahul Gandhi will participate in the jallikattu event at Avaniapuram on January 14. Bull is very closely connected to the farming community, and our leader's presence at a bull-taming sport will come as a moral support to lakhs of farmers who are on the streets protesting against Centre's farm bills,” Tamil Nadu Congress Committee (TNCC) President K S Alagiri said on Tuesday.
Gandhi will arrive at the Madurai Airport at around 10.30 am and drive straight to Avaniapuram to watch the bull-taming sport. After spending about four hours in Madurai, he will head back to Delhi. Avaniapuram is just 9 km from Madurai.
The visit by Rahul Gandhi is expected to galvanise the cadres of Congress ahead of the assembly polls. Congress has already announced that it will fight the elections along with the DMK by declaring M K Stalin as the Chief Ministerial candidate of the alliance.
Jallikattu is a traditional bull-taming sport conducted as part of Pongal festivities in various parts of Tamil Nadu. The events at Avaniapuram, Alanganallur, and Palamedu – all close to Madurai – have attained world-famous status in the past few decades.
Despite Covid-19 restrictions, the Tamil Nadu government has allowed conduct of jallikattu in the state with necessary safety precautions. Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami and his deputy O Panneerselvam will inaugurate the Alanganallur jallikattu on January 16.
Priyanka Gandhi would also be invited to the state in the run-up to the polls, he said. To a question, he mocked at the AIADMK alliance in Tamil Nadu and alleged the partners in the ruling party led combine could not even agree upon the Chief Ministerial candidate. The BJP, after maintaining for some time that NDA would announce the CM candidate said on Monday that the AIADMK, the 'major' partner would decide it.
The TNCC chief said his party stood behind DMK chief M K Stalin and he is the CM candidate of the alliance. Harmony prevailed in the DMK camp and it was absent in the AIADMK combine, he claimed ruling out the scope for discord between Congress and DMK in seat-sharing for the Assembly polls.
Nadda to participate in Pongal celebrations in Chennai
Meanwhile, BJP President J P Nadda will participate in the party's Pongal celebrations in Chennai on January 14. Nadda, who will be in the city on a day-long visit to participate in the 51st anniversary celebrations of Tughlak magazine edited by RSS ideologue S Gurumurthy, will also meet members of the Tamil Nadu BJP Core Committee.