Modi to visit Karnataka for two days

Mysuru, Feb 18 (IANS) Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Karnataka for two days starting Sunday night to participate in various public functions, a BJP leader said.

"Modi will arrive in Mysuru late Sunday night. He will take a chopper ride on Monday afternoon to Shravanabelagola, about 85 km north of Mysuru in Hassan district, to take part in the anointing celebrations of Jain god Gomateshwara," Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) state spokesperson Vamanacharya told IANS.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah will receive the Prime Minister at Mysuru airport.

"Later, on Monday afternoon, Modi will commission the 140-km fully-electrified Bengaluru-Mysuru rail tracks and flag off the Humsafar Express train from Mysuru to Udaipur in Rajasthan," the official said.

In the evening, he will address a party rally at the Maharaja Grounds in the city centre.

It is Modi’s second visit to the southern state in a fortnight. He paid a three-hour visit to Bengaluru on February 4 to address a BJP rally to mark the culmination of the 90-day "Nava Karnataka Nirmana Parivartana Yatre" (journey to build a new Karnataka).

The Assembly elections in Karnataka are due in late April or early May.