May 03, 2024 07:36 AM IST
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will campaign in Andhra Pradesh on May 7 and 8 in support of the Bharatiya Janata Party candidates for the elections to the state assembly and Lok Sabha scheduled to be held on May 13
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will campaign in Andhra Pradesh on May 7 and 8 in support of the Bharatiya Janata Party candidates for the elections to the state assembly and Lok Sabha scheduled to be held on May 13, people familiar with the matter said.
The last time when the Prime Minister addressed an election rally in Andhra Pradesh was on March 17, a day after the announcement of election schedule for the entire country. He addressed a public meeting of three National Democratic Alliance partners – BJP, Telugu Desam Party and JanaSena Party at Chilakaluripet in Palnadu district and shared the dais with TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu and Jana Sena chief Pawan Kalyan.
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Senior BJP leader G Bhanuprakash Reddy said the state party had received information from the BJP national headquarters on Wednesday that the Prime Minister would address rallies and roadshows in some select constituencies in the state on May 7 and 8.
“As per the original schedule, Modi was supposed to tour Andhra Pradesh on May 3 and 4, but because of his hectic programmes, the tour programme has been rescheduled to May 7 and 8. We are awaiting for the official tour programme,” Reddy said.
According to the tentative schedule, the Prime Minister will address a public rally at Vemagiri near Rajahmundry at 3.30 pm on May 7, in support of state BJP president Daggubati Purandeshwari who is contesting from Rajahmundry Lok Sabha constituency. At 5.45 pm, Modi will address another rally at Rajupalem in Anakapalli constituency where BJP candidate C M Ramesh is contesting.
On May 8, Modi will address another election rally at 4 pm at Kalikiri in Rajampet constituency, where former Congress chief minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy is contesting on BJP ticket. On the same evening, Modi will take part in a huge roadshow from Indira Gandhi stadium to Benz Circle in Vijayawada (West) assembly constituency, where former Union minister Y S Chowdary is contesting.
As per the schedule, Modi’s campaign will be confined to only those constituencies where the BJP is contesting. “There are no plans, at least for now, for the Prime Minister to campaign in any other constituency, where the other two partners of the NDA are contesting,” a senior BJP leader, who refused to be quoted, said.
While Naidu and Pawan Kalyan shared the dais with Modi at the Chilakaluripet rally on March 17, there is no clarity on whether they would join him in his rallies and roadshows on May 7 and 8. “It has not come up for discussion yet,” a TDP leader said.
He, however, said the TDP and Jana Sena Party candidates contesting in the assembly segments which are part of the Lok Sabha constituencies where the BJP is contesting, might join the Modi rallies.
On Thursday, the TDP held a preparatory meeting with the BJP and JanaSena Party leaders on Modi’s roadshow in Vijayawada on May 8. The meeting was attended by BJP state election affairs in-charge Siddharth Nath Singh and party candidate Y S Chowdary, besides TDP candidate for Vijayawada Lok Sabha constituency Kesineni Shivanath, TDP politburo member Varla Ramaiah and others.
“The meeting discussed the arrangements to be made by all the three parties, including mobilisation of crowds, for Modi’s roadshow and steps to be taken to make it a grand success,” a TDP statement said.
Meanwhile, the Prime Minister will also address simultaneous rallies at Vemulawada and Warangal in Telangana on May 8. He will return to Telangana again on May 10 to address rallies at Mahabubnagar and Hyderabad, the party said in a statement.
- ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Srinivasa Rao is Senior Assistant Editor based out of Hyderabad covering developments in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana . He has over three decades of reporting experience.
