NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Tamil Nadu during Ram Navami on April 6 to pay respects at the Sri Arulmigu Ramanathaswamy Temple in Rameswaram and inaugurate the new Pamban Bridge.
PM Modi will travel to Rameswaram from Sri Lanka on April after concluding a bilateral visit, said sources. He will be in Thailand on April 3 and 4 to attend the sub-regional BIMSTEC summit. After the summit, Modi will visit Colombo and Anuradhapura in Sri Lanka till April 6.
The visit comes amid indications that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is reviving its relationship with the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) ahead of the upcoming state Assembly elections.
AIADMK General Secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami met with Union Home Minister Amit Shah in New Delhi on Tuesday night, sparking speculation about a potential revival of the AIADMK-BJP alliance ahead of the 2026 Tamil Nadu Assembly elections.
The AIADMK, the main opposition party in Tamil Nadu, had severed its ties with the BJP in September 2023, ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, citing differences with the BJP's state leadership.
The new Pamban Bridge that Prime Minister Modi is set to inaugurate will replace the old 1914 bridge that was closed in 2022 due to corrosion.
Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw previously shared details in November 2024 on social media about “India's first vertical lift railway sea bridge.”
The new Pamban Bridge, spanning over 2.5 km and built at a cost of Rs 535 crore by Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL), is designed to handle faster trains and increased traffic. Vaishnaw emphasized that the bridge symbolizes progress and modern engineering, enhancing connectivity between the mainland and Rameswaram.
