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Whether Kerala will have any 'Narendra Modi' effect this time to make the lotus bloom in a state well known for its highly bipolar politics is the question being asked by many.
For the BJP, the state continued to be a non-starter as none of its candidates was elected to the Lok Sabha and to the 140-member assembly since its Jan Sangh days.
The party leadership expects that at least one of its candidates will get elected to the 16th Lok Sabha from the state this time in the April 10 elections.
The BJP's Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, who visited the state thrice in the last six months, will take the poll campaign to the zenith by addressing a rally at Kasargod on April 8.
Apparently the party is pinning its hope in Thiruvananthapuram where its best known face O Rajagopal is locked in a three-cornered combat with Union Minister Shashi Tharoor (Congress) and CPI's Bennet Abraham.
The party, which has roped in two fringe groups, have put up candidates in all the 20 Lok Sabha seats.
It is significant to note that during his earlier trip to the state, Modi addressed a function held at Sivagiri Mutt at Varkala, belonging to the Sree Narayana Dharma Sangham Trust, a major pilgrim centre where social reformer and saint Sree Narayana Guru's Samadhi is located.
Political observers also point out Modi's appeal to backward community Pulayars in the state during a function organised by Kerala Pulayar Mahasabha, an organisation of the community. Modi had wooed the community stating that Congress-led UPA had ruled the country by dividing the society.
