Today in Politics: PM Modi’s second Kerala visit this month; AAP to host ‘Sundar Kand’ recitals in Delhi

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to visit Andhra Pradesh and Kerala to inaugurate infrastructure projects.

In Andhra Pradesh, Modi will inaugurate a new campus of the National Academy of Customs, Indirect Taxes and Narcotics in Sri Satyasai district’s Palasamudram. The event will be attended by Andhra Pradesh Governor S Abdul Nazeer and Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy.

Later in the day, Modi will also visit Kochi, where he will hold a road show. It’s his second visit to Kerala this month – on January 3, he addressed a gathering of two lakh women and conducted a kilometre-long road show in Thrissur to kick off the BJP’s Lok Sabha campaign in the state.

During his two-day Kerala visit, Modi will review booth-level preparations and interact with local leaders for the polls, as reported by Shaju Philip. This is the first time that the PM is holding an event for booth-level workers in Kerala. It indicates that the BJP is actively attempting to strengthen its cadre as it looks to break its jinx in the southern state.

The party has never won a Lok Sabha seat in Kerala, which has swung between the Left and the Congress so far. The only time it won an Assembly seat was in 2016, but it lost this too to the CPI(M) in 2021.

Among the four Lok Sabha seats the party is targeting are Thrissur, where the BJP is likely to field actor-turned-politician Suresh Gopi, and Thiruvananthapuram, where the Congress’s Shashi Tharoor is likely to seek a fourth straight term. The party will also focus on Pathanamthitta in central Kerala the Attingal seat in Thiruvananthapuram district.

Aside from party events, Modi will on Wednesday inaugurate three major infrastructure projects worth more than Rs 4,000 crore at the Kochi shipyard.

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