Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was in Chennai on Wednesday, announced that the Centre has decided to rename the Chennai Central Railway Station after late chief minister M G Ramachandran. "We have decided to rename the Chennai Central Station after the great MGR," he said amid thunderous applause from the people.
Modi recalled that as many as 50 governments were dismissed by former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi using Article 356. Even the DMK had become a victim, he said and hit out at the Dravidian party led by M K Stalin, saying "opportunism has prevailed over values". “We are also seriously thinking about ensuring that flights to and from Tamil Nadu have in-flight announcements in Tamil language,” he added.
Modi also praised MGR and said that he had visited MGR's birth place in Sri Lanka. The announcement comes at a time when the elections are just about to be announced and Modi's speech made it clear that the NDA has decided to co-opt MGR and Jayalalithaa's legacies into their election campaign. He laid the foundation stone for various projects and dedicated to the nation the much-awaited Rs 5,150 crore liquified natural gas (LNG) terminal at Ennore.
He laid the foundation stone for the four-laning of Vikravandi-Sethiyathopu section, Sethiyathopu-Cholopuram section and Cholopuram-Thanjavur section of National Highway (NH) 45C and six-laning of Karaipettai-Walajapet section of NH 4.
