Thiruvananthapuram: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to visit Kerala this week to support the BJP's campaign and help his party make gains in the state's bipolar electoral battleground.
Modi, who is visiting Kerala for the fourth time since January, will be campaigning for NDA candidates in Pathanamthitta, Palakkad and neighbouring Ponnani and Alathur between March 15 to 18.
Modi is scheduled to visit Pathanamthitta Lok Sabha constituency on March 15 where A K Antony's son Anil K Antony is the BJP candidate. A first-timer, he is pitted against sitting MP of the Congress Anto Antony and CPM heavyweight and former finance minister Dr Thomas Isaac.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections the BJP fielded its state president K Surendran who managed to secure 2,97,396 votes (28.97 per cent). While he came third, the party increased its vote share by a significant 13.50 per cent.
The BJP attaches a lot of significance to the constituency as Sabarimala temple falls in the Pathanamthitta district.
From Pathanamthitta, Mr. Modi will head for Palakkad where he will lead a roadshow for BJP's candidate and state general secretary, C Krishnakumar, who put up a remarkable show in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls securing 2.18 lakh votes (21.44 per cent). Though he came third in the tightly contested triangular poll, the party’s growth in terms of vote share has raised expectations this time.
The Palakkad constituency is set to witness a close contest with the CPM fielding its politburo member A Vijayaraghavan to challenge the sitting MP V K Sreekandan of the Congress. The Left party, which lost by a margin of just over 11,000 votes last time, is hopeful of springing a surprise this time.
The UDF on the other hand is confident of retaining the seat based on the development work carried out by its sitting MP, V K Sreekandan.
The BJP, which currently controls the Palakkad Municipality, is pinning its hopes on Modi’s popularity and his guarantees. Apart from the municipality, the party also has a strong presence in the Palakkad assembly constituency.
Metroman E Sreedharan, who contested on a BJP ticket in the Palakkad assembly seat in 2021, lost to Congress's Shafi Parambil by just 3,800 votes in his maiden electoral battle. The CPM candidate came in a poor third.
Shafi Parambil who is a popular Congress leader in the district will not be available for campaigning as he is contesting from the Vadakara Lok Sabha constituency. His unexpected candidature was necessitated by the sudden shift of sitting MP K Muraleedharan to Thrissur's seat.
The Congress had to pull out its sitting MP T N Prathapan from Thrissur after former Kerala chief minister K Karunakaran’s daughter and Muraleedharan’s sister Padmaja Venugopal joined the BJP. Her crossover triggered panic in the Congress leadership as it feared Padmaja could cause a shift in a section of traditional Congress votes towards the BJP. But with Muraleedharan now in the fray, the Congress is confident of keeping its vote bank intact.
The BJP is slowly but steadily increasing its electoral base in both Palakkad and Pathanamthitta constituencies.
