Lok Sabha Elections 2024: Modi gears up to conquer South

Ahead of the crucial 2024 Lok Sabha Polls, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is going to hold multiple rallies and roadshows in the southern region of the country starting Monday.

On Monday, the PM will address rallies in Shivamogga in Karnataka and Telangana's Jagtial, besides holding a roadshow in Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu.

Taking to X, PM Modi in a post said, "I will be addressing rallies in Jagtial and Shivamogga today. Later in the evening, will join the roadshow in Coimbatore. Be it Telangana, Karnataka or Tamil Nadu, there is exceptional fervor in the NDA's favor," Modi said in a post on social media platform X.

Shivamogga, which is the home turf of former Chief Minister and BJP Parliamentary board member B S Yediyurappa is on a rough patch as the disgruntled party leader K S Eshwarappa will be contesting as an independent from the Shimogga constituency after his son was denied a ticket for the Haveri seat.

Yediyurappa's elder son B Y Raghavendra is the BJP candidate from Shimogga.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will also address a rally in Jagtial, part of the Nizamabad Lok Sabha constituency in the state today.

The meeting will likely have an impact on the neighboring Karimnagar LS constituency as well. Both Nizamabad and Karimnagar are held by the BJP in the outgoing Lok Sabha. Winning more seats from Telangana forms part of BJP's plan to make significant electoral inroads in the south, reported PTI.

Last week, Modi held a roadshow in the Malkajgiri Lok Sabha seat in Hyderabad and addressed a public meeting at Nagarkurnool. PM Modi had attended various development programs in Telangana earlier this month and sought the blessings of Telangana people in the fight against corruption.
Polling in Telangana will be held on May 13.

Next up, is his roadshow in Coimbatore, in the city's Mettupalayam Road and is likely to end it at RS Puram later today. This will be his first political engagement in the state after the announcement of the seven-phase schedule of the Lok Sabha polls.

The BJP, under its aggressive state unit president K Annamalai, is making all efforts to make significant inroads into Tamil Nadu, the Dravidian heartland that has always favored the DMK and the AIADMK, or alliances led by them in the hustings, reported PTI.

Single-phase polling to the state's 39 Lok Sabha seats and the lone segment in Union Territory Puducherry, will be held on April 19. 

PM Modi will also hold a roadshow in Palakkad on Tuesday, according to party sources. Modi's Palakkad roadshow comes after his recent participation at a public meeting in Pathanamthitta town on March 15, where he rallied support for NDA candidates contesting in the southern Kerala constituencies.

Addressing the gathering in Pathanamthitta, the Prime Minister said "The Lotus is going to bloom in Kerala.” 

The rallies indicate that the BJP is determined to achieve the goal of 400 Lok Sabha seats in this election. The party is making ardent efforts to make deep political inroads in the southern states aiming to make a good haul of the available 131 Lok Sabha seats in the five southern states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Telangana, besides the Puducherry and Lakshadweep union territories.

In the outgoing House, the BJP has no representation from Kerala and Tamil Nadu, which have 20 and 39 seats, respectively.

(with PTI inputs)