Ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, Tamil Nadu's BJP President K Annamalai in Theni held a campaign in support of Amma Makkal Munnettra Kazagam (AMMK) Chief TTV Dhinakaran who is an NDA alliance candidate.
The festival was held on Friday at midnight in the temple with much fanfare. The sight of devotees carrying 16-foot-long kavadis and stepping on the Theemithi (fire) made the onlookers enthralled.
"Shri @RahulGandhi gifts famous Mysore Pak to Shri @mkstalin . Celebrating the loving relationship he shares with the people of Tamil Nadu," read a post on the Congress's official X handle.
The Election Flying Squad officials seized Rs 1 crore in cash from a house at Ettarai village in Tiruchirappalli on Friday night, in the first such seizure ahead of polling for the Lok Sabha in the state.
Congress leader Shashi Tharoor, who is re-contesting Lok Sabha polls from Thiruvananthapuram, on Friday said BJP's message is not well received in Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh and the party has very little hope from southern India
Coming out heavily against the Bharatiya Janata Party, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi called electoral bonds the "single biggest act of corruption" done by anybody in the world.
During the election campaign, praising the candidate running from Madurai, Kamal Haasan said that two good people are coming to Madurai. "A notice was posted that a good person is coming to Madurai today. I am not the only good person. Our candidate, Su Venkatesan is also good."
Bharatiya Janata Party leader H Raja claimed that only a nationalist political party can be an alternative to the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and it is BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA).
The National Small Match Manufacturers Association (NSMMA) on Friday announced that production of matches will stop for ten days, with the halt beginning tomorrow.
"The Tamil language is no less than any other Indian language. There are many different languages and cultures in this country and all are equally important to us," Rahul Gandhi said.