"V Muraleedharan will strengthen hands of PM Modi": EAM Jaishankar at poll campaign in Kerala

Thiruvananthapuram: Lauding the efforts of Bharatiya Janata Party leader V Muraleedharan for the state, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said that a "people-centric" person such as him will strengthen the hands of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to bring about positive changes to improve the lives of the people of the country.
Jaishankar said that he is confident that the people of Kerala would recognise V Muraleedharan's work and what a good member of parliament he would make.
Speaking to a public gathering in the state capital on Friday, Jaishankar said, "I am here today to offer my support and express my fullest beliefs that my friend and minister of state colleague Muraleedharan will be the best member of parliament for this constituency."
"By supporting him, the people of Kerala will be strengthening the hands of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to bring about more change and improve the lives of the people of the country and state for the next few years," he said.
The EAM further said, "Muraleedharan and I have worked very closely for the past five years and I want to say three things today."
"Firstly, Muraleedharan is a very people-centric person who addresses the issues of the people. He will be a great representative to make sure that all the yojanas (schemes) and abhiyans (campaigns) of Prime Minister Modi reach you. He is the kind of person who will deal with your issues and make sure all the schemes and policies work," he said.
"Secondly, Muraleedharan is a person who has been directly responsible for improving passport services in this country. Anybody who has a passport or can access one easily is all due to the credit of Muraleedharan," added Jaishankar.
The External Affairs Minister said that through his work as a Minister of State, Muraleedharan has served as a bridge between India and the Gulf region.
"He is known in the Gulf as the representative of PM Modi. It is because of him today that the relations of our country with Gulf countries, the UAE in particular, have become so much better. For any problem to do with the gulf, he has been sorting it out day and night for the past 5 years," he stated.
"Whenever there is any rescue operation or anybody is in trouble, he is the one to help. So we want him back in the government. We want him as Lok Sabha MP. We want him to be the voice of Kerala in Delhi," added the EAM.
Later on, while speaking to the reporters, Jaishankar said, "I can see great support and enthusiasm for V Muraleedharan. So we will do our best. I am very confident that people will recognise what a good member of parliament he will make. I am looking forward to seeing him in Lok Sabha."
"We want the people of Kerala to vote in the right way to send representatives to the Lok Sabha. So particularly V Muraleedharan, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Anil Antony and Suresh Gopi, these are people who should be in Parliament," he added.
Union Minister Muraleedharan has been fielded by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) from Kerala's Attingal in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
Senior BJP leader and Union Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar will take on three-time MP Shashi Tharoor in the Kerala capital of Thiruvananthapuram.
Actor-turned-politician and ex-Rajya Sabha MP Suresh Gopi will seek the people's mandate from Thrissur.
The national leadership decided to put Anil Antony, son of veteran Congress leader AK Antony, in Pathanamthitta.
Senior leader MT Ramesh has been given the Kozhikode seat, while the party's female face in Kerala, Shoba Surendran, will be fielded from Alappuzha.
The party has clear calculations for fielding ex-Calicut varsity VC Abdul Salam from Malappuram.
Meanwhile, as the last date for filing nomination papers ended on Thursday, 290 candidates have submitted their nomination papers in various Lok Sabha constituencies in Kerala, according to a release from the Chief Electoral Office.
"A total of 499 nomination papers have been received so far," the release said.
The scrutiny of nomination papers will take place on Friday. The final list of candidates will be released after the last date for the withdrawal of nominations, i.e., April 8.
Kerala will hold elections in a single phase on April 26. There are 20 Lok Sabha constituencies in Kerala and the BJP has never won a parliamentary seat in the state.