Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a roadshow in Coimbatore amid tight police security on Tuesday.
This is the first time such a road show, on a grand scale, has been organised by the BJP in Tamil Nadu.
The road show was held days after the Madras High Court green-flagged the event and directed the police to allow it with reasonable conditions.
Police had initially refused permission for the road show, citing "communally sensitive" nature of the area.
Modi held the road show in an open, flower-decked vehicle. People who gathered on both sides of the road showered flower petals on him amid ‘Modi, Modi’ chants by BJP workers.
The roadshow was held about 2.5 km route—from Saibaba Colony to RS Puram.
Clad in a spotless white kurta, Modi waved at people who took vantage positions in buildings to take a glimpse of him.
The road show is the first political engagement of Modi in Tamil Nadu following announcement of Lok Sabha elections schedule.
Performances of folk dance and traditional music energised the cadres who sung songs and danced.
At the end of the road show, Modi paid floral tributes to the portraits of people who were killed in the bomb blast that rocked the textile city in 1998.