PM Modi, Amit Shah rallies to boost campaign

The BJP election campaign in the state will get a boost with Prime Minister Narendra Modi set to conduct whirlwind tours from Friday and BJP national president Amit Shah from Thursday.

Mr Modi will kickstart his campaign with a meeting at Palakkad Kotta maidan at 1 pm on Friday for Sobha Surendran and 11 other NDA candidates. Later he will leave for Hosur, in Krishnagiri district in Tamil Nadu, and Chennai. He will return on Sunday and attend rallies in Kasargod (9.30 am), Kuttanad (12.45 pm), Kanyakumari (3.45 pm) and Thiruvananthapuram (5.30 pm). Mr Modi will come to Tripunnithura on May 11 and address a meeting at 6.30 pm after attending a public rally at Vedaranyam in Nagapattinam, Tamil Nadu.

Mr Amit Shah was expected to arrive at Nedumbassery late Wednesday night and attend a public meeting at Ranni for BDJS candidate K. Padmakumar on Thursday.

His is scheduled to arrive in Kottayam by 2.30 pm and address a rally at Manimala panchayat ground at Kanjirapally for BJP candidate V.N. Manoj. Later, he will go to Vazhikulangara at Paravoor, in Ernakulam. Mr Shah’s last public meeting on Thursday is at St. Mary’s HS ground at Aluva. He will return to New Delhi by Thursday night.

Ms Sobha Surendran is hopeful of winning Palakkad seat this time. “The BJP had increased its votes from 68,000 to 1.38 lakh in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. With the support of BDJS we will be able to garner more votes,” she said.

The BJP rules Palakkad municipality and the leadership is counting on Ms Surendran to win Palakkad, which is one among the 22 A-plus seats. Though it failed to get a simple majority in the civic polls, the BJP with 24 members emerged as the single largest party in the 52-member municipal council. The RSS state leadership has also concentrated on the Palakkad seat.