Modi to campaign in T next week

• He is focusing on South, actively forging alliances
• BJP chief is also likely to visit T region on Apr 26

New Delhi: Desperate to reach the figure of 272+ on its own, BJP Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi has set his sights on the South and will be holding a record number of rallies in Telangana, TN and Andhra Pradesh in the next few days. Modi will be campaigning in T next week and would address rallies in Secunderabad, Nizamabad, Mahabubnagar and Karimnagar. He is likely to campaign on April 23 or 24, the dates of which are still being finalized. During the campaign, he will be seen with Pawan Kalyan in a couple of rallies and may also rope in TDP supremo Chandrababu Naidu. For Andhra Pradesh elections, there is still time and Modi would campaign later.

The BJP president Rajnath Singh is also likely to address meetings in Telangana on April 26. Modi is not leaving any stone unturned to garner support for himself in the do-or-die election battle this summer and whether or not any film star can garner support for him, he is making it sure that his very presence with him sends the right signals across. Modi met mega star Rajnikanth recently, who stopped short of any formal appeal for the BJP. His very endorsement of Modi as a strong leader and able administrator and wishing him success in future is being seen in the BJP as enough for the party to sail through in the polls in Tamil Nadu. Modi has taken personal interest in forging alliances in the South and is confident that the BJP will get an impressive tally of seats from here. He succeeded to have a tie-up with regional parties in almost all the Southern states. In Tamil Nadu, he roped-in the regional parties like DMDK, PMK, MDMK, KMDK and IJK. In Puducherry, similarly, he has forged an alliance with All India N R Congress, while in Kerala; he has aligned with Revolutionary Socialist Party and Kerala Congress (N). At a time when the principal parties try hard to rope in either the AIADMK or the DMK, Modi chose regional parties, fully aware that J Jayalalithaa is herself nursing prime ministerial ambitions and may ditch him at the last moment.

Modi’s growing importance was seen when AIADMK supremo and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa recently chose to hit out at the BJP, accusing it of betraying Tamil Nadu on Cauvery water-sharing issue. In Karnataka, despite stiff resistance, Modi succeeded in inducting B Sriramulu and Karnataka strongman B S Yeddyurappa. Exit from the BJP of Yeddyurappa, the Lingayat icon, helped the Congress to storm back to power in the State. With the re-entry of Yeddyurappa, BJP is once again confident of handing out electoral drubbing to the Congress in the Lok Sabha polls in Karnataka. Apart from Southern Allies, the NDA comprises Akali Dal in Punjab, Shiv Sena, Republican Party of India (Athavale), Rashtriya Samaj Paksh and Swabhiman Paksh in Maharashtra, Lok Janshakti Party and Rashtriya Lok Samta Party in Bihar, Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party in Goa, Haryana Janhit Congress in Haryana, Apna Dal in UP, National People’s Party in Meghalaya, Naga People's Front in Nagaland, United Democratic Front in Mizoram, North-East Regional Political Front in the North-East and the Gorkha Jan Mukti Morcha in Darjeeling in West Bengal.