Congress gears up for LS poll campaign in central Kerala amid BJP's focus on Thrissur seat

Thiruvananthapuram: Amid the BJP's focus on the Thrissur Lok Sabha seat, informally projecting actor-politician Suresh Gopi as its candidate, the Congress on Monday said it would launch its general election campaign in the first week of February with a massive rally from the central Kerala city.

KPCC General Secretary T U Radhakrishnan said the final phase of the party's preparations for the parliament elections would commence on February 4 at Thrissur Thekkinkad Maidan, led by AICC President Mallikarjun Kharge.

The KPCC said the rally would be held on February 4 at 3.30 pm, with the participation of one lakh party workers.

This includes 75,000 key booth-level activists from 25,177 booths across the state, as well as office bearers from Mandalam Committee to AICC levels in Kerala.

The KPCC Executive Committee, chaired by KPCC President K Sudhakaran MP in an online meeting, will make thorough preparations for the upcoming conference to ensure its success, a KPCC release said.

It said the conference aims to bring significant changes to how the Congress operates, focusing on empowering individual booths.

AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge will directly engage in a dialogue with booth presidents, women vice presidents, and booth level agents, the release added.

The KPCC's decision to organise a massive rally in Thrissur is seen as the party's response to increased attention from the BJP's national leadership, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on the central Kerala constituency.

The BJP strengthened its voter base in the region during the 2019 Lok Sabha polls with the candidacy of Suresh Gopi.

Modi, who conducted a roadshow and a women's conference in Thrissur on January 3, is scheduled to visit the Guruvayoor Sree Krishna temple and Thriprayar Sreerama Temple in the central Kerala district on January 17.

This visit of Modi, to attend the marriage of Gopi's daughter at the Guruvayoor temple on Wednesday, shows the significance the BJP national leadership places on the Thrissur seat, which is currently represented by Congress leader T N Prathapan.