Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday reached out to the Christian community which has a significant presence in this southern district, and also projected Anil K Antony — son of Congress stalwart and former Union Minister A K Antony — as a symbol of the youth.

“This is the kind of freshness that is required in Kerala politics,” Modi said, referring to Anil Antony who had left the Congress and joined the BJP last year and is the saffron party’s candidate from the Pathanamthitta Lok Sabha constituency.

Addressing a large gathering of NDA workers and followers here, the PM said that in the last Lok Sabha elections in 2019, the BJP got a vote percentage in double digits and therefore, the target of double digit seats from Kerala is not too far

In the last elections, the people of Kerala made us the double-digit vote percentage party. And now, our destiny of double-digit seats here is not so far,” hesaid. “Lotus is going to bloom in Kerala this time.”

Modi reached out to the Christian community, which has a significant presence in this southern district, by recalling his meeting with Pope Francis at the Vatican.