Modi's visit to boost BJP's electioneering in Kerala

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's one-day visit to Kerala on Wednesday will further boost BJP's electioneering in Kerala which is already on with the target of opening account to the Lok Sabha from Kerala.

The saffron party is specifically focusing on six out of the 20 seats in Kerala where the party fared well in 2019. Speculations that the party may field national leaders in the state have gained further steam with the frequent visits of Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to the state.

With the BJP making all-out efforts to make inroads into the state's Christian vote banks, which comes to around 18 per cent, Modi, who recently hosted church heads on Christmas day, could possibly make announcements that woo the community during his Kerala visit.

Modi, who had a meeting with prominent church heads during his last Kerala visit, could make such moves this time too. Repeated pleas of a Kerala bishop to enhance the support price of rubber could also get a favourable consideration as Christians constitute a major chunk of the rubber planters in Kerala.

Even as the Manipur violence became a setback for the BJP's Christian outreach efforts in Kerala with many church heads openly flaying the assault on the community, the party got a fillip recently as an Orthodox church diocese secretary and 48 Christian families from Pathanamthitta district joined the BJP. Pathanamthitta is also among BJP's highly hopeful seats.

Modi will be attending a road show in Thrissur on Wednesday and will also address the 'Sthree Shakti Sangaman', an event to highlight women's reservation law. It could witness the participation of around two lakh women.

The event assumes more significance as Thrissur is also a focus seat of the BJP. Actor turned politician and former Rajya Sabha MP Suresh Gopi, who had put up a good fight in the last Lok Sabha and Assembly polls, already started the groundwork at Thrissur.

BJP state president K Surendran said that Modi's Thrissur visit would become a historic one. The minority communities are becoming close to the BJP and the Congress and the CPM are intolerant towards it, he said adding that the party received a good response during the visit to Christian homes during Christmas.

The BJP is likely to field many prominent personalities in Kerala. Minister of State for IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Congress leader A K Antony's son Anil K Antony and actor Unni Mukundan are among the probable candidates in Kerala. The party is also awaiting Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's decision on contesting from Wayanad again. If Rahul is in the fray, a national leader would be fielded against him, party sources said.

Thiruvananthapuram, where the party came second to Congress's Shashi Tharoor, could also witness a national leader of BJP in the fray. Since Nirmala Sitharaman hailed from the adjacent part of Tamil Nadu and received much acceptance during her visit to the coastal areas during the Ockhi cyclone disaster, there are speculations that she may be fielded against Congress's Shashi Tharoor who is looking for a fourth term in a row from Thiruvananthapuram.