By PTI CHENNAI: BJP President Amit Shah arrived in Chennai, today for a one-day visit during which he is set to energise grassroots level functionaries ahead of next year's Lok Sabha polls and meet a cross-section of leaders, party insiders said. Shah, who was met with a rousing welcome by party cadres, will hold an interactive session with members of the Sakthi and Maha Sakthi Kendra, which comprise the grassroots support of the party. While a Sakthi Kendra in-charge is vested with the responsibility of overseeing the party work of five booth level functionaries, a Maha Sakthi Kendra office-bearer is the overseer for five Sakthi Kendra functionaries. Hoardings, festoons and banners welcomed Shah along the route from the airport on till the venue of the meeting on East Coast Road in the suburbs. However, the BJP president was facing stiff social media resistance with a hashtag '#GobackAmitShah' receiving more than 75,000 mentions on Twitter. In April, PM Narendra Modi, who was in the city to inaugurate a defence expo, had also faced similar social media opposition and protests over the failure of the Central government in forming Cauvery Management board. Describing the about 15,000 kendra level party workers as the pivot of the BJP at the crucial grassroots level, party sources told PTI that the key group of workers needed to be heard and energised. "The kendra workers have the task of ensuring enrolment of more and more members. Also, they have been asked to have a personal touch with the people. This is crucial work for any party," said a senior functionary working with kendra volunteers. Though there are functionaries at several other levels, including the party apparatus at the district, town and union level, the role of kendra workers is significant, he added. Shah will also meet with an administrative committee of the party set up for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls in Tamil Nadu. The BJP chief will interact with those in charge of the party in each of the 39 Parliamentary seats in Tamil Nadu and the lone seat in neighbouring Puducherry. The party has appointed two office-bearers (one designated as in-charge and another an organiser) for each of the Parliamentary seats. Besides, Shah will meet office-bearers from the Union territories of Puducherry and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The BJP president is also set to meet office-bearers from Sangh Parivar outfits, including the Hindu Munnani which was credited with doing complementary fieldwork during the polls in Tamil Nadu, said a party leader. BJP Tamil Nadu unit president Tamilisai Soundararajan termed the visit of the party's national chief a "big morale booster" for workers. The saffron party in Tamil Nadu has been trying hard to make a dent in the largely bipolar Dravidian politics dominated by the ruling AIADMK and the principal opposition DMK. The party is hoping to make inroads with the political scene in Tamil Nadu witnessing a churn after the death of AIADMK supremo J Jayalalithaa in 2016 and DMK patriarch M Karunanidhi becoming politically inactive in view of his age. As part of its efforts to become electorally significant in Tamil Nadu, the BJP had also tried to woo top Tamil actor Rajinikanth into its fold. The actor, however, did not respond to the overtures is expected to launch his own political party. Another leading matinee star, Kamal Haasan, has launched his political outfit Makkal Needhi Maiam. The political innings of Haasan and the expected political entry of Rajinikanth are significant as they come following a perception of a political vacuum in view of Karunanidhi and Jayalalithaa fading away from the scene. Against this background, the BJP is hopeful of expanding its footprint beyond its traditional stronghold in several pockets of Kanyakumari district. (With inputs from online desk)<doc-sep>BJP president Amit Shah CHENNAI: A few hours before BJP president Amit Shah ’s arrival in Chennai to attend party’s 2019 Lok Sabha election preparation meetings, the hashtag #GobackAmitShah started trending on Twitter on Monday morning. By 9.30am, Twitter had over 13K tweets and retweets using the hashtag #GobackAmitShah. @iam_jafeth tweeted, “Tamil Nadu is the land of equality we won't allow terrorist like you.” #GobackAmitshah @piraikannan tweeted: @AmitShah it's Tamil Nadu not India., We are not accepting Democratic gamblers. @dr_madras tweeted: “Did Amit Shah comment on Tuticorin shootings? Doesn’t he have a moral responsibility as a national party president?! #GoBackAmitShah Srikanth sarma@srikant0009 tweeted: “Demonetisation scamster go back In April, #GobackModi was trending on Twitter when Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the city. Modi visited the city at a time when there was a widespread sentiment against the Centre’s delay in constituting the Cauvery Water Management Authority, as directed by the Supreme Court.<doc-sep>Bharatiya Janata Party chief Amit Shah on Monday said the party will respect its existing partners and expand the ruling National Democratic Alliance by bringing in “new friends” ahead of the Lok Sabha elections in 2019, PTI reported. “There is a false campaign against BJP in Tamil Nadu,” he told a gathering of party cadres from across the state and Puducherry in Chennai, according to The Indian Express. “Let me tell you, BJP is the only party that can protect Tamil culture and Tamil language.” Invoking the concept of “Tamil pride”, Shah claimed that no other party was as committed to preserving it as the Bharatiya Janata Party. “Let me promise you, if BJP is elected to power in Tamil Nadu, Tamil pride will go beyond the borders, reaching across India,” he said, adding that it was the Narendra Modi-led government that introduced railway tickets in Tamil. Shah said he would announce the BJP’s new partners in Tamil Nadu before the Lok Sabha elections. He added that development of Tamil Nadu was a priority for the Modi government and claimed the Centre had allotted projects worth over Rs 5 lakh crore to the state in the last four years. “When they [Congress-led UPA] were in power at the Centre, the 13th Finance Commission gave the state Rs 94,540 crore,” he said. “When the Modi government came into being, the 14th Finance Commission earmarked Rs 1,99,096 crore for Tamil Nadu.” Shah also claimed that the BJP ensured there was no corruption wherever it formed the government or was part of the ruling dispensation. He also said that a conference of 1.25 lakh booth-level functionaries will be held in October which will be attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “All of you have to return to your native place and tell people about our government’s schemes. And in October, we will have a much bigger rally in Tamil Nadu,” he said.<doc-sep>Chennai footpaths damaged for banners: This time to welcome BJP’s Amit Shah BJP Chief Amit Shah is in Chennai as part of the 2019 Lok Sabha Election Preparation Tour. news Politics On the day that BJP President Amit Shah is scheduled to visit Chennai, pavements on some stretches near the airport and along the East Coast Road (ECR), were dug up to make way for party cutouts and banners. Amit Shah is in Chennai as part of the 2019 Lok Sabha Election Preparation Tour to Tamil Nadu and is scheduled to land in the city at 11.45am.He will then hold daylong meetings at the VGP Golden Beach Resorts on East Coast Road (ECR). Photographs showed flags and banners that were dug into footpaths, damaging them while also blocking the way for pedestrians. The Madras High Court has imposed a ban on hoardings and flex boards featuring living persons. Responding to the tweets, a BJP party worker told TNM, “Generally party workers don’t erect the hoardings, we give it to the contractors. So, they would have done it. But we will look into it and do a course correction if found true.” It was only a few weeks back that activists slammed DMK for damaging the footpath on the Poonamallee High Road and erected hoardings for its party meeting held in MGR colony near Koyambedu. J Anbazhagan, a DMK MLA, had responded to the activists’ tweet assuring that they would repair the damages. Speaking to TNM about this violation by the BJP, Jayaram Venkatesan, the convenor of Arappor Iyakkam said, “I haven’t seen the images yet. But we will surely check on it and file complaints with the police and the corporation like we did for other political parties.” Illegal hoardings and banners have caused inconvenience to the public and even claimed lives. Between November 2017 and February 2018, at least three people were killed in separate incidents in Coimbatore, Ooty and Coonoo r owing to hoardings. Meanwhile, on the day the BJP chief is scheduled to arrive in the state, the hashtag ‘GobackAmitShah’ trended on Twitter in India on Monday. Many on Twitter used the hashtag to say that Tamil Nadu was 'Periyar's' land and hence parties with a religious undertone will not be allowed inside Tamil Nadu. Tamil Nadu is entirely different from other States and the BJP would never gain foothold in the State. The BJP has won other States as those States had no ‘Periyar’.#GobackAmitShah — Ashish Vivek Merukar (@AMerukar) July 9, 2018 BJP cannot make government in between educated people . So please cancel your visit & stop wasting tax payers money . BJP for other states we have won all the states but when its come to south india BJP is yet to win any seats there #GobackAmitShah — Tufel Khan (@TUFELKINGKHAN) July 9, 2018 Now #GobackAmitShah is trending all over India I am really proud to be a tamilian becoz we people always oppose those religious based party which always brings hate among each others July 9, 2018 #GobackAmitShah Don't you know that you shouldn't go to someone's place if they don't welcome you ! ?#GobackAmitShah — Haris (@Haris_Ad) July 9, 2018 The hashtag also comes nearly three months after the ‘Go Back Modi’ protest across Chennai, which coincided with the Prime Minister’s visit to Chennai to attend the Defence Expo. The same hashtag were tweeted by hundreds, making it trends worldwide on April 12.<doc-sep>
BJP president Amit Shah waves as he arrives at Chennai Airport to meet with party functionaries, in Chennai on Monday, July 9, 2018. (Source: PTI Photo) BJP president Amit Shah waves as he arrives at Chennai Airport to meet with party functionaries, in Chennai on Monday, July 9, 2018. (Source: PTI Photo) Launching his poll preparation tour ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, BJP chief Amit Shah addressed a gathering of about 8,000 people in Chennai Monday. His day-long meetings, held at Golden Beach Resorts on the city outskirts, continued till late evening. Addressing a gathering of party cadres from various districts and Puducherry in the evening, Shah’s speech largely focused on resisting a “false campaign” against the BJP in Tamil Nadu and to list out the number of schemes and money spent by the NDA government in the state. “There is a false campaign against BJP in Tamil Nadu. Let me tell you, BJP is the only party that can protect Tamil culture and Tamil language,” he said, recalling that it was the Narendra Modi government that first introduced railway tickets in Tamil. “Let me promise you, if BJP is elected to power in Tamil Nadu, Tamil pride will go beyond the borders, reaching across India,” Shah said. “All of you have to return to your native place and tell people about our government’s schemes. ….And in October, we will have a much bigger rally in Tamil Nadu addressed by Narendra Modi himself with over 1.5 lakh people,” he said, adding that the party will take decisions about electoral alliance in September and October, ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. He said the alliance will include “non-corrupt parties” in the state. “Maybe Tamil Nadu is one of the states with maximum corruption… Every voter should join BJP to make Tamil Nadu a corruption-free state,” he said.