Union Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Pralhad Joshi is likely to take part in the rally of the Bharatiya Janata Party candidate for Dakshina Kannada Lok Sabha constituency Brijesh Chowta on Thursday.
Mr. Chowta will take a padayatra from the BJP election office in Bunts Hostel to the office of Deputy Commissioner to file his nomination, said the BJP district president Satish Kumpala in Mangaluru on Tuesday.
Apart from Mr. Joshi, Dakshina Kannada MP Nalin Kumar Kateel, State convener for BJP’s Lok Sabha Election Management Committee and Karkala MLA V. Sunil Kumar, seven BJP MLAs of the district, MLC and Udupi-Chikkamagaluru Lok Sabha constituency BJP candidate Kota Srinivas Poojary, will take part in the rally. Large number of BJP party activists will take part in it.
The rally will start at 9 a.m. and culminate near the office of Deputy Commissioner at 11 a.m., Mr. Kumpala said.
The district BJP chief said the party has already finished one round of meetings at each of the 1,800-odd booths in the constituency. From April 6, booth-level voter connect programme will start in which Mr. Kateel and other party leaders will take part. A mega voter contact programme will be held on April 21.
Union Minister of Women and Child Development Smriti Irani will take part in the party’s campaign in the constituency on April 5. More State and national BJP leaders will take part in the campaign.
The district unit of the party has invited, among others, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Tamil Nadu BJP chief K. Annamalai, for the campaign, he said.
On Narayana Guru Vichara Vedike president and BJP functionary Satyajit Surathkal’s statement on Monday that the vedike will back candidates belonging to the Billava community in Dakshina Kannada, Udupi-Chikkamagaluru, and Shivamogga Lok Sabha constituencies, Mr. Kumpala said it was a surprise to see Mr. Surathkal, an active member of the Hindu Jagarana Vedike, back a community.
“Mr. Surathkal is still in the BJP. Party seniors will be consulted on the action against Mr. Surathkal.”
The BJP will get votes from across the communities in the three Lok Sabha constituencies, he added.
