Prime Minister Narendra Modi was greeted with black flags and a hashtag GoBackModi on Twitter before he reached Chennai to attend the Defence Expo-2018 on Thursday.
Modi was flown to the two venues --IIT Madras and DefenceExpo --where the conference was being held in order to avoid the protesters, News 18 reported.
Airborne Modi may have caught a glimpse of the protest because main opposition party DMK’s workers let loose black balloons into the sky.
T Velmurugan, coordinator of Tamizhar Vazhvurimai Koottamaippu, an umbrella body of pro-Tamil outfits, announced a 'black balloon-cum-black flag' protest.
The balloons will be released at Meenambakkam in the airport's vicinity and "several other locations," said Velmurugan who is also the chief of Tamizhaga Vazhvurimai Katchi.
The party workers waved black flags and, its leaders, came dressed in black sarees and shirts to show their protest against the Centre perceived as dragging its feet in setting up the Cauvery water management board.
The Supreme Court had in its order in February asked the Centre to set up a board to oversee the river water sharing between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu by March 29. But the Centre sought more time citing Karnataka election, but the court refused and asked to come up with a draft rule by May 3
DMK, asked people to hoist black flags atop their houses to oppose his visit. DMK's working president M K Stalin has appealed to people to hoist black flags and wear black badges as a mark of protest.
The GoBackModi hashtagers have requested Modi to read the comments before giving any speech and said that he is not welcome in Tamil Nadu.
TWEET:
Modi formally inaugurated India's mega defence exhibition - the Defexpo- at Thiruvidanthai, about 40 km from here, namely ‘India: The Emerging Defence Manufacturing Hub”..
Tight security arrangements, including a multiple-layer security ring, are being put in place for Modi's visit, police said.
With Agency Inputs
