Thiruvananthapuram: PM Modi to address rallies in state on January 6, 27

Thiruvananthapuram: The state BJP is hoping to move into the election gear with the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the state next month. He will address public rallies at Pathanamthitta on January 6 and Thrissur on January 27 as part of his South Indian tour ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. BJP national president Amit Shah will reach Kerala on December 30 and address a rally at Palakkad the next day. It is not yet known whether Mr Shah will visit Sabarimala though there was a proposal for it earlier.

Mr Modi will address the party workers of four Lok Sabha constituencies each during his visit. The state leadership got confirmation from the central leadership about the visits of Mr Modi and Mr Shah at the core committee meeting held here on Wednesday. Mr B. L. Santhosh, national joint organising secretary, also attended the meeting of the committee as well as the office-bearers.

State president P.S. Sreedharan Pillai came under flak from the core committee members for not handling the Sabarimala issue with diligence and for calling frequent hartals. He said a hartal had to be called when Venugopalan Nair set himself on fire. General secretary M. T. Ramesh was the only leader who supported him.

Meanwhile, the state BJP leadership has been asked to continue the indefinite fast before the secretariat on the Sabarimala issue till January 22 when the Supreme Court considers the review and writ petitions. The state leadership was keen on concluding the fast on December 27, the day the Sabarimala temple closes for Mandalam season. Now it has been forced to to sustain it for a longer time.

Former BJP state president C. K. Padmanabhan, who was staging the fast for over a week, was arrested and moved to the Medical College Hospital on Wednesday. State general secretary Sobha Surendran took his place.