New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will arrive in Kerala’s Pathanamthitta today as part of intensifying the BJP’s South outreach where the party is still struggling for a stronger foothold.
It is reported that PM Modi is prioritising southern states of Kerala, Telangana, and Tamil Nadu, in order to collect substantial number of seats in Lok Sabha polls.
In Kerala, the BJP has long been working to attract the minority Christian community to counter the two-alliance system of LDF and UDF that switch powers between them.
The state’s demographic landscape having a dominant Muslim and Christian population remains off-limits to the BJP nevertheless it concerted efforts.
The BJP's state chief K Surendran, the party's Kerala in-charge Prakash Javadekar, state General Secretary George Kurian will receive PM Modi when he arrives in the state, NDTV reported.
The PM will address a public meeting of one lakh people also attended by NDA's Lok Sabha candidates V Muraleedharan, Anil K Antony, Sobha Surendran, and Baiju Kalasala alongside Padmaja Venugopal, the new entrant from the Congress.
Venugopal is the daughter of Congress stalwart and former Kerala Chief Minister K Karunakaran.
In Tamil Nadu, the BJP is without any major allies after it fell out with the AIADMK and the party is to woo the PMK and actor Vijayakanth's DMDK in the run-up to the polls, according to NDTV.
PM Modi is on his fifth visit to the state this year and will campaign in Kanniyakumari today, where the saffron party has better presence.
The campaign trail will see the PM Modi arriving in Telangana today where he will hold a roadshow in Malkajgiri alongside the party's Lok Sabha candidate Eatala Rajender and Union Minister G Kishan Reddy.