Amit Shah in Chennai, to inaugurate several projects in Tamil Nadu

NEW DELHI: Union home minister Amit Shah reached Chennai on Saturday amid efforts by the BJP to increase the party's footprint in the southern state.

Tamil Nadu chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami, deputy chief minister O Panneerselvam and senior cabinet colleagues were at the airport to welcome Amit Shah.

AIADMK cadres and functionaries and BJP workers who gathered at the Chennai Airport to welcome the Union minister.

In a surprise move, the Union home minister got out of his vehicle and walked on the road to greet the supporters who had gathered at the airport. He waved his hands at the BJP and AIADMK cadres who were lined up along the road outside the airport.

The Union home minister took to Twitter to thank the city for its love and support.

It is always great to be in Tamil Nadu. Thank you Chennai for this love and support. https://t.co/pxl5EaZ6on

— Amit Shah (@AmitShah) November 21, 2020

"It is always great to be in Tamil Nadu. Thank you Chennai for this love and support," he said in a tweet.

Amit Shah will dedicate to the people a new water reservoir that will cater to the needs of Chennai residents as well as lay the foundation stones of several other projects, the Tamil Nadu government said.

The new reservoir built at an outlay of Rs 380 crore will be dedicated at a function at Kalaivanar Arangam here, chaired by the chief minister.

Besides inaugurating several projects, Amit Shah is also scheduled to meet the Tamil Nadu BJP office-bearers and cadres to galvanise them ahead of the 2021 assembly polls.

Tamil Nadu BJP unit chief L Murugan had earlier claimed that Shah's visit will put fear in the minds of opposition parties.

The visit comes amid the reported rift between the BJP and the ruling AIADMK over the 'Vel Yatra'. The AIADMK government has refused permission for the yatra calling the move 'politics of vote bank based on religion'. But the BJP has gone ahead with the programme, courting arrest wherever they have been stopped.

The Union home minister is also scheduled to lay the foundation stones of Phase II of Chennai Metro Rail with an outlay of Rs 61,843 crore; Rs 1,620 crore elevated expressway project in Coimbatore; expansion of Chennai Trade Centre (Rs 309 crore); Indian Oil Corporation's petroleum terminal at Vallur (Rs 900 crore); Rs 1,400 crore lube plant; Rs 900 crore terminal at Kamarajar Port; and Rs 406 crore check dam with sluice gates across the Cauvery river in Karur district.

Meanwhile, in another development, suspended DMK member and former member of Parliament, KP Ramalingam joined the BJP in Chennai.

"I joined in BJP today, I will dedicate my life for the development of the party," said Ramalingam.

Ramalingam said he will try to convince MK Alagiri, brother of DMK chief MK Stalin, to joint the BJP.

"I have close relations with MK Alagiri (DMK chief MK Stalin's brother). I will try to bring him to Bharatiya Janta Party," he added.