Kerala witnessing unusually aggressive BJP campaign

Kerala is witnessing an unusually aggressive election campaigning from the BJP with national leaders making a beeline and carrying out a series of road shows.

In the case of the Congress, Rahul Gandhi, who is also an MP from Kerala, is the key star campaigner.

According to political analysts, Kerala might not have witnessed this many national leaders coming down for campaigning had the BJP not made the state a focus in the upcoming polls. Moreover, since Rahul Gandhi is now an MP from Kerala, the BJP seems to be giving more focus on Kerala this time as a setback to Congress in Kerala will hurt it at the national level too.

Veteran journalist and political analyst John Mary said that the BJP seems to be making an all-out bid to woo the Hindu Nair community as they seem to be campaigning more in constituencies where the community has a considerable presence.

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Since elections are taking place only in a few states now, the political parties can also easily ensure the presence of national leaders.

BJP national leaders have been making a beeline to Kerala over the last couple of weeks and the party national president staged road shows across the state on Saturday.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is coming down to the state in the coming week and is scheduled to address election meetings at Thiruvananthapuram, Konni in Pathanamthitta, and Palakkad. Home Minister Amit Shah, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, and Textiles Minister Smriti Irani are among the BJP's list of star campaigners in Kerala.

Meanwhile, the Congress is mainly cashing in on Rahul Gandhi, while his sister and AICC general secretary Priyanka Gandhi is also expected to come down in the coming days. The Congress camps are hopeful that campaigns by Rahul and Priyanka across Kerala might help the party in creating a pro-Congress trend as witnessed in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.