Karnataka polls: PM Modi likely to visit Udupi with UP CM Yogi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath are likely to visit the Temple town Udupi on May 4 to attend a party event in poll-bound Karnataka.

The party workers in the coastal town are planning a grand event just a few days before Karnataka will have its single-phase election. However, the venue has not been finalised yet.

The Temple Town comes under the Udupi-Chikkamagaluru Lok Sabha constituency and it has eight assembly seats - Kundapura, Udupi, Kapu, Karkala, Sringeri, Mudigere, Chikkamagaluru and Tarikere.

In the 2018 assembly polls, the BJP had bagged seven out of eight seats. The presence of the two leaders in the coastal town is expected to give a boost to the saffron party.

PM Modi remains the trump card for the BJP in the 2023 assembly polls. The survey polls have also indicated that the Prime Minister's popularity continues to be the major reason why people vote for the saffron party. Hence to increase the chance of winning more seats, the party has planned 15-20 pre-poll rallies of the PM.

"We are hoping that PM Modi holds between 15-20 rallies in Karnataka ahead of May 10 polling," a senior BJP leader told ANI.

The ruling party has been pitching for growth under the "double-engine government".

"The biggest factor that stands out for us is the commitment of the Narendra Modi government at the Centre which has ensured that peace and development goes hand in hand in the state," the MP said.

The polls for 224 assembly seats will be held on May 10 and the counting will be held on May 13 in the polls in which Congress is predicted to emerge as the single largest party, as per the surveys.

Meanwhile, the BJP's poll preparation suffered a blow after former CM Jagadish Shettar and former Deputy CM Laxman Savadi quit the party after being denied to contest the poll. Both leaders have now joined Congress.