Lovely experience to see Tamil culture in action: Rahul after witnessing jallikattu in TN

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi onThursday witnessed the popular bull taming sport jallikattuat Avaniapuram here, saying his visit was aimed at sendingout a message to ''those who think they can run roughshod onTamil people.'' He described the sport as ''Tamil culture and historyin action.'' The former party president was joined by DMK Youth WingSecretary Udhayanidhi Stalin on the dais.

Jallikattu is held in the state, especially with muchvigour in this district, coinciding with the Tamil harvestfestival Pongal which heralds the auspicious Tamil monthThai.

Gandhi said he flew down from Delhi to witness thehugely popular event ''because I think Tamil culture, Tamillanguage (and) Tamil history are essential for the future ofIndia and need to be respected by everybody'' in the country.

''I have come here to give a message to those people whothink they can run roughshod on Tamil people, who think theycan push aside Tamil language and Tamil culture,'' he saidwithout naming anyone.

Gandhi was accompanied by senior party leaders KCVenugopal, TNCC President KS Alagiri and Puducherry ChiefMinister V Narayansamy at the jallikattu venue.

Gandhi said he has ''received tremendous love andaffection from people of Tamil Nadu and it is my duty to standwith people of Tamil Nadu and protect their history, theirculture and their language.'' ''I have come here also to learn about your culture, yourfeelings, about your history,'' he added.

The Congress leader also lauded the systematic and safelyorganised jallikattu, saying both the bulls and youngstersattempting to tame them were safe and that everybody was takencare of.

''..quite a lovely experience to see Tamil culture andhistory in action,'' he said about the sport.

Though Udhayanidhi Stalin was present at the venue sincemorning and was not on the same dais that Gandhi occupiedalong with senior Congress leaders on his arrival, he laterjoined the Lok Sabha MP and the two were seen havingdiscussions, apparently about jallikattu.

DMK and Congress are in alliance and are slated to facethis year's Assembly polls in Tamil Nadu together.

Alagiri had earlier said Gandhi would lend his moralsupport to farmers protesting against the new central farmlaws across the country by witnessing jallikattu here.

Gandhi will not engage in electioneering today, theTNCC chief had said.

Commenting on Gandhi's presence at the event today, hesaid it was Rahul's ''Tamil vanakkam,'' (Tamil greetings).

Earlier, Gandhi had in a Tamil tweet, wished the peopleof the state on the occasion of Pongal.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)