Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address a mass gathering of 2 lakh women in Thrissur on Wednesday, officially sounding the poll bugle for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

Titled 'Sthree Shakthi Modikk Oppam' (Empower Women with Modi), the convention, to be held at the sprawling Thekkinkadu ground, is organised by the Kerala unit of the BJP to congratulate Modi for successfully passing the Women's Reservation Bill in both Houses of Parliament. Women from diverse backgrounds, including anganwadi teachers, ASHA workers, entrepreneurs, artists, MGNREGA and neighbourhood network workers, and social and cultural activists, are expected to participate in the event.

Though the programme is planned as a mass meeting of women, it is viewed as the official launch of the poll campaign by the BJP for the upcoming general elections in its attempt to make political inroads in Kerala, which is currently dominated by CPI(M)-led LDF and Congress-led UDF. The BJP state leadership recently made it clear that more national leaders would visit the southern state and interact with the people in the next few months ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.

The selection of Thrissur as the venue of the mass event also assumes significance as it is one of the constituencies in which the saffron party hopes for a good show in the upcoming polls. BJP state chief K Surendran has said women from various walks of life, including prominent personalities who have made their mark in various fields, would attend the event of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Thrissur.

Modi's Thrissur visit would become a landmark in the political history of the southern state, he claimed. "Actress-danseuse Shobhana, cricketer Minnu Mani, entrepreneur Beena Kannan, singer Vaikom Vijayalakshmi and Mariyakutty, who raised her voice against corruption and red tapism, will be among those who will share the venue with the PM," Surendran told reporters in Thrissur.

A cross-section of women from Kerala would gather in Thrissur as part of the programme, he said adding that there is no doubt that it would become a historic event. Surendran further claimed that the ruling LDF and the opposition UDF would soon experience a political decline in the state.