PM Modi Will Arrive In Kochi For Two-Day Kerala Visit

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will arrive here on Monday for a two-day visit to Kerala during which he will be attending several programmes and also meet with senior church leaders. Modi will land at INS Garuda naval air station in Kochi around 5 pm and from there travel as part of a roadshow to Sacred Heart College Grounds.Security has been tightened along the route of the roadshow with 2,060 police personnel being deployed in the city as part of the arrangements for the Prime Minister's visit. At the college ground, the PM will address a public meeting and also interact with the youth as part of the 'Yuvam 2023' programme. While his itinerary does not mention it, senior BJP leaders have confirmed that Modi will be meeting senior priests of the Christian community after the youth conclave.

Eight prominent senior priests of various churches in the state have been invited to meet the PM at the Taj Malabar hotel here where Modi will be staying. The BJP in Kerala is aiming to use the PM's visit as a springboard for its outreach campaign for bringing youth and minorities into its fold. Yuvam 2023 is being projected as a game changer in Kerala politics by the saffron party. The meeting with the church leaders is a part of the BJP's outreach campaign 'Sneha Yatra'. As part of the campaign, BJP leaders in Kerala visited Christian and Muslim leaders and the homes of people belonging to these minority communities on the festive occasions of Easter and Eid, respectively.

Buoyed by the BJP's performance in polls in three northeastern states including Christian-dominated Nagaland and Meghalaya last month, the Prime Minister had announced that the party-led alliance would form a government in Kerala too in the coming years. "As gradually the lies of our rivals are exposed, the BJP will expand... I am sure in the coming years, as it has happened in Meghalaya and Nagaland and has been happening in Goa, the BJP's alliance will form government in Kerala too," he had said, blasting the Left and the Congress for their politics of deceit with their "friendship" in Tripura and rivalry in Kerala. The CPI(M)-led LDF and Congress-led UDF are the two main fronts in the southern state.

On Tuesday morning, the Prime Minister would travel by air from INS Garuda to Thiruvananthapuram airport. In the state capital, he will go by road to Thiruvananthapuram Central Railway station for flagging off the Vande Bharat Express train allocated to Kerala. From there, he will travel to Kerala Central Stadium in the capital city for attending various other programs and laying a foundation stone for the country's first Digital Science Park. Around noon on Tuesday, he will depart from Kerala to Gujarat.