THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the cyclone-affected Kanyakumari and Poonthura on Tuesday afternoon after his trip to Lakshadweep in the morning. He reached Kanyakumari from the Air Force station here in a helicopter by 3 p.m. and reached Poonthura by 5 p.m. Earlier, Mr Modi who reached the Air Force station in a C-130 J Super Hercules plane at 1.30 p.m. was received by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, Governor P. Sathasivam, Union Tourism Minister Alphons Kannanthanam, MP Suresh Gopi, MLA O. Rajagopal and Mayor V.K. Prasanth. Though a luxury SUV was brought for him to reach the helicopter to go to Kanyakumari, he chose to walk. En route he posed for photographs with Air Force personnel and boarded the Mi 6 helicopter accompanied by three similar aircraft at 1.55 p.m.
Mr Modi was received by Tamil Nadu Governor Banwarilal Purohit and Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami in Kanyakumari around 3 p.m. He returned to the state capital and reached the fishing hamlet of Poonthura at 5 p.m., 15 minutes behind schedule. He was accompanied by ministers J. Mercykutty Amma, Kadakampally Surendran and local MLA V.S. Sivakumar. After an interaction with fishermen and laity, he held a meeting with state leaders and bureaucrats at government guest house, Thycaud, from 5.31 p.m. to 6.42 p.m. Mr Modi later left for New Delhi by 7.30 p.m.
