Prime minister to visit Kerala & Tamil Nadu

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has begun his tryst with South India ahead of Assembly elections in Kerala and Tamil Nadu. He will be in Kerala on February 3 to inaugurate the Global Ayurveda Festival. and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader in Tamil Nadu, Tamilisai Soundararajan, has said Modi is expected to come to Tamil Nadu in the first week of February to inaugurate the party's election campaign.

The PM has not been to Puducherry since he assumed office, although BJP president Amit Shah was in the former French colony in August last year. BJP leaders from Puducherry were in Delhi last month to brief Modi and Shah about the prospects of their party, which is in alliance with the ruling All India NR Congress (AINRC). The party will begin its election preparation from February 1, when applications from prospective candidates will be invited. The BJP says it has 75,000 members in Puducherry.