With big ticket investments, BJP tries to woo voters of poll-bound Tamil Nadu, Kerala

BENGALURU: The BJP, which has been struggling to deepen its footprint in Tamil Nadu and Kerala, has sought to win over the voters in the two states with some blockbuster budget announcements for the two states as assembly polls near.

Tamil Nadu has 234 assembly and 39 lok sabha seats; while Kerala has 140 assembly and 20 lok sabha seats. The BJP has been able to make inroads only in Karnataka, and has not had much success in other places. In the 2016 assembly polls, the BJP had secured a measly 2.86% vote in Tamil Nadu and 10.6% in Kerala.

Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced 3,500 km of national highway project for Tamil Nadu at an investment of Rs 1.03 lakh crore. These include Madurai-Kollam corridor, Chittoor-Thatchur corridor. The project construction, she said, will start next year.


The budget also seeks to promote seaweed farming calling it an emerging sector with potential to transform the lives of coastal communities. “It will provide large scale employment and additional incomes. To promote seaweed cultivation, I propose a Multipurpose Seaweed Park to be established in Tamil Nadu,” the finance minister said.

As for Kerala, the budget announces 1,100 km of national highway project at an investment of Rs 65,000 crore, including 600 km section of Mumbai-Kanyakumari corridor in Kerala.

According to political analysts, the BJP is probably not looking at any immediate returns in the assembly polls, but wants to establish a foothold by the next parliamentary polls in 2024 as the two states together account for 59 seats in the Lok Sabha.