Lovely experience to see Tamil culture in action: Rahul Gandhi after witnessing jallikattu in TN
Madurai: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday witnessed the popular bull taming sport jallikattu at Avaniapuram here, saying his visit was aimed at sending out a message to "those who think they can run roughshod on Tamil people."
He described the sport as "Tamil culture and history in action."
The former party president was joined by DMK Youth Wing Secretary Udhayanidhi Stalin on the dais.
Jallikattu is held in the state, especially with much vigour in this district, coinciding with the Tamil harvest festival Pongal which heralds the auspicious Tamil month Thai.
Gandhi said he flew down from Delhi to witness the hugely popular event "because I think Tamil culture, Tamil language (and) Tamil history are essential for the future of India and need to be respected by everybody" in the country.
"I have come here to give a message to those people who think they can run roughshod on Tamil people, who think they can push aside Tamil language and Tamil culture," he said without naming anyone.
Gandhi was accompanied by senior party leaders KC Venugopal, TNCC President KS Alagiri and Puducherry Chief Minister V Narayansamy at the jallikattu venue.
Gandhi said he has "received tremendous love and affection from people of Tamil Nadu and it is my duty to stand with people of Tamil Nadu and protect their history, their culture and their language."
"I have come here also to learn about your culture, your feelings, about your history," he added.
The Congress leader also lauded the systematic and safely organised jallikattu, saying both the bulls and youngsters attempting to tame them were safe and that everybody was taken care of.
"..quite a lovely experience to see Tamil culture and history in action," he said about the sport.
Though Udhayanidhi Stalin was present at the venue since morning and was not on the same dais that Gandhi occupied along with senior Congress leaders on his arrival, he later joined the Lok Sabha MP and the two were seen having discussions, apparently about jallikattu.
DMK and Congress are in alliance and are slated to face this year's Assembly polls in Tamil Nadu together.
Alagiri had earlier said Gandhi would lend his moral support to farmers protesting against the new central farm laws across the country by witnessing jallikattu here.
Gandhi will not engage in electioneering today, the TNCC chief had said. Commenting on Gandhi's presence at the event today, he said it was Rahul's "Tamil vanakkam," (Tamil greetings).
Earlier, Gandhi had in a Tamil tweet, wished the people of the state on the occasion of Pongal.
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LIVE | Election Results of five states 2026
New Delhi: The countdown has begun for the counting of votes for the Assembly elections in five states that have captured the attention of people across the country.
The counting of votes for the Assembly constituencies of West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Assam and the Union Territory of Puducherry will begin simultaneously at 8 am, and the fate of candidates in a total of 824 constituencies will be decided shortly.
The counting of postal ballots will take place first, followed by the counting of EVM votes in several rounds.
- BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari is leading in West Bengal’s Nandigram constituencyFive-state elections: Postal vote counting begins
- TMC, BJP lead in one seat each in West Bengal
- In Tamil Nadu, DMK leads in 3 constituencies, while TVK leads in 1
- UDF leads in 5 seats in Kerala, BJP in 1, LDF in 1
- BJP leads in 2 seats, AIUDF in 1 in Assam
- AINRC leads in 1 constituency in Puducherry
- TMC leads in 5 seats in West Bengal; Mamata Banerjee’s party maintains initial lead
- Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin leads in Kolathur
- BJP takes early lead in Assam
- Congress-led UDF leads in Kerala
- In Tamil Nadu, TVK chief Vijay leads in the Perambur constituency, lags in Tiruchirappalli South
- BJP leads in 10 seats in Assam
- LDF candidate V.P.P. Mustafa leads in the Thrikkaripur Assembly constituency
- Out of 294 seats in West Bengal, BJP is leading in 14 seats, TMC in 12 seats, Congress in 2 seats
- Out of 234 seats in Tamil Nadu, DMK is leading in 15 seats, AIADMK is leading in 5 seats, TVK is leading in 2 seats
- Out of 126 seats in Assam, BJP is leading in 31 seats, Congress in 4 seats, AIUDF in 2 seats.
- Out of 30 seats in Puducherry, NRC+ is leading in 3 seats, Congress in 2 seats, TVK in 1 seat.
- Congress’ Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury suffers a setback in theBerhampore constituency in West Bengal.
