PM Modi to woo Tamil Nadu, Kerala electorate today

Chennai: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address rallies for Assembly elections in Kerala and Tamil Nadu as polls in both the states are to be held on 16th of this month and campaigning has reached its peak.

In Tamil Nadu, the Prime Minister will address a rally in Vedaranyam in Nagapattinam district today evening where Union Minister of State for Road Transport Highways and Shipping Pon Radhakrishnan and BJP state Chief Thamisai Soundarajan will also share the stage.

The Prime Minister is expected to highlight measures taken by Central government to find a lasting solution to the fishermen issue.

With the campaign for the Assembly elections ending on Saturday evening, leaders have intensified their campaign.

AIADMK supremo and Chief Minister Jayalalithaa addressed rally in Arakkonam last night and DMK treasurer MK Stalin campaigned for alliance candidates in Tiruvannamalai and state Congress chief EVKS Elangovan campaigned in Chennai yesterday.

Later in the day, Prime Minister Modi will reach Kerala for the third round of electioneering for the NDA and he will address a rally in Ernakulam’s Thripunithura, where state Excise Minister K. Babu, who faced corruption charges in the bar bribery case, is contesting.

The Prime Minister has already led electioneering in Palakkad, Kasaragod, Alappuzha and Thiruvananthapuram districts in recent days.

Presence of dissidents and dupes in the fray is proving real headache for all the major fronts. The Congress-led ruling UDF is facing menace of dissidents in at least seven constituencies while the CPI (M)-spearheaded LDF and the NDA are by and large free from direct threat of rebels and dupes.

However, the presence of Kerala Congress dissident and sitting MLA P.C. George in Kottayam’s Poonjar constituency and CPI(M) martyr T.P. Chandrasekharan’s wife K.K. Rema in Kozhikode’s Vadakara poses a major challenge for all the three fronts alike.

In the 2011 elections, UDF had won by a margin of just two seats in the 140-seat Assembly. In the subsequent by-poll, its strength rose to 73.

UDF emerged winner in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls as well. However, corruption charges and policy issues have cast shadow over the UDF regime that seeks re-election this time.(ANI)