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The BJP top brass will continue their campaign on Friday ahead of the first phase of the Lok Sabha polls. While Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be in Udhampur of Jammu and Kashmir, where he will address a rally around noon Union Home Minister Amit Shah will be in Madurai of Tamil Nadu.
The scheduled rally, which the PM will hold for BJP’s candidate and Union minister Jitendra Singh, has prompted authorities to activate a multi-tier security setup, including ban on flying of drones.
Singh is seeking re-election for the third consecutive time from Jammu and Kashmir’s Udhampur Lok Sabha seat in the first phase of the elections.
Security agencies have issued advisories and Standard Operating Procedures (SoP) for people attending the rally and for security personnel in view of the threat perception.
Meanwhile, sources said Shah will land in Madurai airport on Friday afternoon and will leave for Karaikudi to campaign for Sivaganga candidate T Dhevanathan Yadav.
He will then return to Madurai enroute which he will offer prayers at the temple in Thirumayam in Pudukkottai district. He is also scheduled to visit the Meenakshi Sundareswarar Temple in Madurai later in the night.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will attend an INDIA bloc rally in Coimbatore on Friday.
According to a release from the DMK, the two leaders will seek support for candidates for the Opposition INDIA bloc at the rally being held in the Chettypalayam area.
The Congress, DMK, Left and other small parties are fighting the upcoming Lok Sabha elections as a part of the INDIA bloc in Tamil Nadu, which will see all 39 seats go to polls in the first phase on April 19.
Coimbatore is being seen as a seat where the BJP fancies its chances of winning and has fielded its Tamil Nadu chief K Annamalai, who will take on Singai Ramachandran of the AIADMK and Ganapathi Rajkumar of the ruling DMK.
Prior to the INDIA rally, Rahul will address a meeting in Tirunelveli.
Meanwhile, AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge will address two rallies in his home state of Karnataka. He will first address a public meeting in his home turf of Gulbarga and then proceed to Basavakalyan for another public meeting.
Former Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister and rebel BJP leader K S Eshwarappa on Thursday said he would file his nomination for Shivamogga Lok Sabha seat tomorrow.
Eshwarappa asserted he would file his nomination in the wake of speculation that he would back off from contesting the polls and said a large number of people would turn up.
“Tomorrow, a large number of people from across the constituency will come as I will be filing my nomination papers. I was not sure that I will get such an overwhelming response during my election campaign,” the veteran leader said.
The veteran leader has been at odds with the B S Yediyurappa family and had offered to withdraw as a candidate if the BJP replaced its Shivamogga candidate – B Y Raghavendra, who is the son of the Yediyurappa.
His nomination comes after several attempts by the BJP top brass, including Union Home Minister Amit Shah, to pacify him failed.
– With PTI inputs
