Narendra Modi back on campaign trail, to address rallies in Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry today

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who has just returned from a two-day trip to Bangladesh, will once again hit the campaign trail today (30 March). He will address election rallies in Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry on Tuesday. The prime minister will start his day with a rally in Palakkad at 11 am. He will then move to Dharapuram in Tamil Nadu at 12:50 pm for another rally before concluding the campaign for the day in Puducherry at 4:35 pm. Meanwhile, on Sunday, addressing a rally in Thrissur, the defence minister targeted both LDF and UDF who have formed governments in Kerala alternatively. He asked why despite being the first state with a 100% literacy rate Kerala was facing backwardness. “When the entire country is redefining the aspiration and development trajectory why is Kerala lagging in this exercise?” Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, too, will be in Kerala, addressing at least seven corner meetings, the mainstay of Congress’ campaign strategy in the state. She is going to stay in the state for another day of campaigning on Wednesday. Prime Minister Modi was in Kerala and Tamil Nadu last on 14 February when he launched several developmental projects, including a Chennai Metro project and a petrochemical complex in Kerala. In Kerala, the poll battle is largely between the LDF and UDF alliances. In Tamil Nadu, the DMK-Congress alliance is fighting the AIADMK-BJP combine. On 6 April, 140 seats in Kerala, 234 in Tamil Nadu and 30 in Puducherry will go to the polls in a single phase.