Palakkad, March 19 (IANS): Prime Minister Narendra Modi's first roadshow in Kerala after the Lok Sabha election announcement drew thousands of people on Tuesday.
PM Modi arrived in Palakkad after a gap of four years, and this time his only engagement was a one km roadshow, after which he left for Salem in Tamil Nadu.
Arriving by helicopter at the Mercy College ground around 10.45 a.m, PM Modi drove in his vehicle to the start of the roadshow at Anjuvileku where he got into a decked up open jeep. Throughout the route ‘Jai Jai Modi and Bharat Mata Ki Jai’ slogans reverberated. The roadshow ended at the Head Post office road.
Men, women and children were seen waving to PM Modi, who was accompanied by the state BJP president K. Surendran and the BJP candidate from Palakkad, C. Krishnakumar.
Also standing beside the Prime Minister was the BJP candidate from Ponnani -- Nivedita Subramanian.
Soon after alighting from the vehicle after the roadshow, Surendran said, "Just see the massive crowd and the signs are very ominous that PM Modi has walked into the hearts of all who came to see him. Now just wait and see what’s going to be the outcome.”
Krishnakumar could not hide his happiness and said, "Where ever PM Modiji has gone to in Kerala, people are giving the feedback that there is going to be a change this time...Palakkad gave him a loving welcome and it was seen on people’s faces. Each one of us is excited as this visit is definitely going to bring a huge change here."
“We just came to see world leader Modiji and we have been waiting since morning. The heat is unbearable, but we were determined to see Modiji who has taken our country to greater heights,” said a group of people who were happy to see the PM wave at them.
This is the fifth visit by PM Modi to Kerala since the New Year began and the previous visit was when he arrived to address an election rally at Pathanamthitta last Friday.
Palakkad for the BJP is special as it was in this district that the BJP was able to govern the prestigious Palakkad municipality on its own strength in 2015 and they repeated it five years later also.
Also the BJP finished second in two constituencies -- Palakkad and Malampuzha in the 2021 Assembly polls .