Southern push: PM Modi to visit TN, Kerala and Telangana

Hyderabad, March 15 (IANS) As part of the BJP’s southern push for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be visiting Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Telangana on Friday. 

He will campaign for candidates of BJP and its allies during his day-long visit to the three states by addressing public rallies and participating in roadshows.

This visit is part of the BJP’s strategy to focus on south India, where the party has scope for further growth, to achieve its target of 400 Lok Sabha seats for the National Democratic Alliance (NDA).

PM Modi has been visiting different parts of south India for the last few days to launch developmental projects and address public meetings.

As per the schedule announced by the BJP, PM Modi will first visit Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu to address a public meeting at 11.15 a.m.

He will then leave for southern Kerala's Pathanamthitta city, where he will address a public meeting and hold roadshow to campaign for NDA candidates V.Muraleedharan (Attingal), Anil K. Antony (Pathanamthitta), Sobha Surendran (Alappuzha), and Baiju Kalasala (Mavelikkara).

Padmaja Venugopal, who recently quit Congress to join BJP, will also be present at the public meeting.

The Prime Minister will later reach Hyderabad to conduct a roadshow in Malkajgiri in the evening. He will campaign for BJP candidates for Malkajgiri, Secunderabad, Hyderabad and Chevella.

After the roadshow, he will have a night halt at Raj Bhavan and the next day proceed to Nagarkurnool to address a public meeting.

This will be his second visit to Telangana in less than 10 days, which indicates the party’s increased focus on the state.

He had earlier visited Adilabad and Sangareddy and addressed two public meetings besides launching several development projects.

The BJP, which is going alone in Telangana, has already announced candidates for 15 out of 17 Lok Sabha seats in the state.

Home Minister Amit Shah, who visited Hyderabad two days ago, asked the BJP cadres to ensure that the party win more than 12 seats.

After Karnataka, Telangana is the second most important state for BJP.

In 2019, the party had bagged four Lok Sabha seats. It was the saffron party’s best-ever performance in the state.

In the recently held elections, the BJP won eight Assembly seats in the 119-member Assembly. The party doubled its vote share since 2018, when it had bagged a single seat.