Puducherry, 03 April (H.S.):

Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Puducherry on Friday afternoon and immediately plunged into an election‑focused marathon, holding a massive roadshow through the heart of the Union Territory to galvanise support for the ruling AINRC‑led NDA alliance ahead of the April 9 Assembly elections.

The Prime Minister landed in nearby Chennai in the early afternoon and then boarded a helicopter to Puducherry, reaching the territorial airport around 4:15 pm, officials said.

From there, he proceeded directly to the Ajantha Signal Junction, the starting point of the roadshow, aboard an open‑top vehicle flanked by senior NDA leaders and local candidates.

The 1.2–1.7‑kilometre‑long convoy snaked along Anna Salai and adjacent stretches, concluding near the Kamarajar statue area, where supporters had gathered in dense clusters.

The BJP had earlier projected that over 30,000 people would participate in the event, and visual coverage showed packed roadsides, waving flags, pamphlets, and loud cheers as the Prime Minister’s vehicle moved slowly through the route.

Along the way, PM Modi interacted with party workers, local residents, and youth, urging them to back the NDA’s “development agenda” and consolidate votes behind the ruling coalition led by Chief Minister N. Rangasamy.

The roadshow was framed by the BJP as a high‑stakes assertion of its growing presence in Puducherry, where the NDA is contesting against an aggressive DMK–Congress‑led alliance.

Elaborate security arrangements were put in place for the visit, with over 1,000 police personnel deployed alongside paramilitary forces drawn for election‑related duty, according to official sources.

Barricades were erected along the route for crowd management, and tree branches overhanging the road stretch were trimmed to ensure smooth and visible movement of the convoy.

The event comes amid a tight electoral contest in the Union Territory, with all sides highlighting local development issues while the Prime Minister’s roadshow underscored the BJP‑NDA pitch of national‑level governance and infrastructure growth trickling down to smaller regions such a Puducherry.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar