Today in Politics: PM Modi steps up Kerala push before LS polls; CM Patnaik to open Jagannath Temple project

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to conclude his two-day tour of Kerala Wednesday by inaugurating projects worth Rs 4,000 crore in the port city of Kochi and addressing the BJP’s booth-level workers.

On Tuesday, the first day of his second visit to Kerala in two weeks, PM Modi attended a road show in Kochi from the Maharajas College ground to the Ernakulam government guest house. An estimated 50,000 BJP workers participated in the road show, according to a party official.

On Wednesday, the PM is set to inaugurate three projects – the New Dry Dock, the International Ship Repair Facility of Cochin Shipyard Limited, and the LPG Import Terminal of Indian Oil Corporation Limited. Later in the day, he is also expected to address a party meeting of around 6,000 in-charges of ‘shakti kendras’, each comprising two to three booth-level areas, at Marine Drive.

During the trip, Modi will also visit Guruvayur, where he will offer prayers at the Lord Krishna temple and attend the wedding of actor-turned-politician Suresh Gopi’s daughter.

With the Lok Sabha elections round the corner and the BJP only a minor player in Kerala politics, Modi’s visits signal the party’s push to carve out a political space for itself in a state dominated by the Left and the Congress. For the parliamentary elections, the BJP is expected to focus its attention on a handful of seats, including Thrissur and Thiruvananthapuram. The party is yet to win a Lok Sabha seat in Kerala.

Jagannath Temple project inauguration

As preparations and rituals ahead of the Ram Temple consecration in Ayodhya on January 22 continue, with a procession of the idol of Ram Lalla within the temple compound to be held on Wednesday, another temple project in Odisha is getting a grand