As Modi arrives in Madurai, twitter war over #GoBackModi vs #TNWelcomesModi breaks out

New Delhi, Jan 27: As Prime Minister arrives in Madurai to lay the foundation of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) and launch a slew of government projects, hashtag GoBackModi was trending on Twitter.

PM Modi's visit to Tamil Nadu has been marred by a war of 'hashtags' on the micro-blogging site Twitter.

Thousands of other tweets, meanwhile, welcomed PM Modi to Madurai and thanked him for setting up AIIMS in the city. Hashtags like #MaduraiThanksModi and #TNWelcomesModi too are among the top trends on Twitter.

Modi will also be addressing a rally in Madurai to kick off the BJP's election campaign in a state where it won only one Lok Sabha seat out of 39 in 2014. His detractors have dismissed his visit as a gimmick

However, it is not only #GoBackModi that could mar Modi's visit. Dravidian and Tamil nationalist parties have launched black flag protests in several parts of Madurai against the PM's visit. Many are angry that Modi did not visit the state after cyclone Gaja ravaged 12 districts in November.

In April last year, the DMK and other Dravidian parties raised black flags against the PM for not constituting the Cauvery Management Board, while he was visiting IIT Madras.