‘Will break all records’: PM Modi ahead of poll announcement

Tribune News Service

Aditi Tandon

New Delhi, March 15

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said the BJP would break all past records in the upcoming General Election.

HC permits pm’s roadshow in Coimbatore

The Madras High Court on Friday directed the Coimbatore police to grant permission to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s proposed 4-km roadshow on March 18 with “reasonable conditions” and said the rejection of permission citing the proposed route was communally sensitive was “unsustainable”.

Why South matters to BJP?

The BJP has struggled to gain an electoral foothold in Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh and has no MP from these states. Out of the 129 LS seats in five southern states (TN 39, AP 25, Karnataka 28, Kerala 20 and Telangana 17), the BJP holds only 29 (25 in Karnataka and four in Telangana). It needs to expand in south to meet the 370-plus target.

He was addressing a public rally in Kerala’s Pathanamthitta in favour of party candidate Anil Antony, the son of former defence minister and Congress veteran AK Antony.

“We are going to witness a grand festival of democracy soon. I have a firm belief that this time, Kerala’s love for the BJP will translate into huge support. I have a firm faith that this time, all previous records will be broken and also that Kerala will snap out of the vicious cycle of the LDF and UDF,” PM Modi said as he embarked on a five-day tour of South India, starting with a rally in Tamil Nadu’s Kanyakumari followed by public meetings in Kerala and Telangana.

After Kanyakumari, the PM arrived in Kerala, where he urged people to convert their “substantial support for the BJP into seats”.

The BJP has struggled to gain an electoral foothold in Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh and has no MP from these states.

In Kerala, where the BJP has so far named 12 of 20 candidates, PM Modi said people had ensured a double-digit vote share for the BJP in 2019.

“I am sure of a double-digit seat target from Kerala this time,” he said, making an outreach to Christians in the presence of BJP’s Christian face Anil Antony.

Noting that the ideology of the LDF and UDF was outdated and in sharp contrast to a progressive Kerala, the PM said, “Kerala has endured enough hardship at the hands of the LDF and UDF, both mired in corruption.”

He also recalled his 2021 meeting with Pope Francis in the Vatican and the rescue of Father Tom Uzhunnalil, a Catholic priest, from ISIS captivity in 2016 to seek a connection with the electorally dominant Christians. Earlier today in Kanyakumari, the PM called the ruling DMK the “enemy of Tamil Nadu’s future and a party with hate for the country and its heritage”. His veiled jibe was to CM MK Stalin’s son Udhayanidhi’s anti-Sanatan dharma remarks.

Prime Minister Modi also attacked the DMK and Congress for alleged corruption.

“The history of the DMK and Congress is one of loot. These parties seek power to plunder the people. On one side are BJP’s welfare schemes, on the other are multi-crore scams. We gave optical fibre and 5G. The INDI alliance gave 2G scam,” PM Modi said.

In the evening, he held a roadshow in Telangana’s Malkajgiri arriving in the state after addressing rallies in Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

The PM will continue his south sojourn till March 19.

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