Kochi: Union Home Minister Amit Shah is set to lead a roadshow at Thrippunithura in Ernakulam district on Wednesday morning as a part of the ongoing campaign of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) ahead of the April 6 Assembly elections in the state.
Shah, who arrived at the Kochi airport on Tuesday night, reviewed the campaign activities with the BJP leaders.
The former BJP president is set to reach Thrippunithura from Nedumbassery in a helicopter at 9.50 am on Wednesday and will take part in the roadshow from 10.30 am to 10.50 am.
Dr K S Radhakrishnan, the former head of the Kerala Public Service Commission, is the NDA candidate from the Thrippunithura legislative assembly constituency.
The Home Minister will reach the Kanjirappally assembly constituency by 11.25 am and will address a public meeting at the ground of the Sreyas Public School and Junior College at Ponkunnam at 11.45 am.
Former Union Minister Alphons Kannanthanam is the NDA candidate here.
After lunch, Shah will go to Chathannoor in Kollam district by 1.40pm and will address the public meeting at the Puttingal Devi temple ground at 2.30pm.
Later he will fly northward and is expected to reach Kanjikode in the Malampuzha constituency in the Palakkad district by 4.35 pm. A roadshow will be held from Kanjikode to Sathrapadi at 4.55 pm.
'Metroman' E Sreedharan is the NDA candidate in Palakkad and BJP state general secretary C Krishnakumar is the candidate in Malampuzha.
Amit Shah will leave for Coimbatore by 5.45 pm.
Shah's program in the Thalassery constituency has been cancelled after the NDA candidate's nomination here was rejected.
In Guruvayur and Thalassery constituencies, where nominations of two NDA candidates were rejected, the party has sought alternatives. The party could back an independent in Thalassery. However, no statement has been released by the Alliance yet.
The district leadership had earlier announced that a decision will be made by the state leadership soon. With Amit Shah's arrival, the matter is expected to be closed soon.
In Guruvayor, the Alliance may back the Democratic Social Justice Party (DSJP) candidate.
DSJP is a party that had earlier sought to become an ally of the NDA.
Yesterday, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi arrived in Kottayam to give the much-needed impetus to the United Democratic Front (UDF) campaigning ahead of the Assembly elections in Kerala.
The Congress district leadership and supporters made elaborate arrangements to welcome Rahul Gandhi.
He took part in UDF meets at Kottayam, Puthuppally, Kanjirappally, Pala and Kaduthuruthy.
Rahul's campaigning was in the model of a roadshow. During the journey, he greeted people from the roof of his car. Rahul also traveled with the candidates and greeted the voters.
Former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala, KPCC president Mullappally Ramachandran, AICC general secretaries KC Venugopal and Tariq Anwar, and AICC secretary Ivan D'souza too were part of the campaign.
During his last visit to Kerala on February 24, Gandhi had taken a dip into the sea with fishermen off Kerala's Kollam coast. He joined them for fishing and interacted with fishers in an effort to understand their daily lives.
The election for the 140-member Kerala Legislative Assembly will be held on April 6. The results will be announced on May 2.
