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The five southern states have a total of 129 Lok Sabha seats on offer and the BJP has a mere 29 of them in the current Parliament. But bolstered by its excellent electoral show in the north-east in the just concluded polls and a changed scenario in some of the southern states between 2019 and 2024, the saffron party is looking at more voters from the south to give thumbs up in its bid to form the third NDA government in a row in 2024. The elections scheduled in the party-ruled Karnataka and BRS-dominated Telangana later this year might just indicate if the political weather is conducive for the Lotus to bloom in the south, even as Prime Minister Narendra Modi has exuded confidence of the party emerging victorious in Kerala, from where the BJP has neither has an elected MP nor an MLA. The party has rose as a challenger to the ruling Bharat Rashtra Samiti (BRS), led by K Chandrasekhar Rao in Telangana, as demonstrated in a couple of Assembly bypolls where it emerged victorious and an
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday asked the people of Karnataka to repose faith in Prime Minister Narendra Modi and former Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa and said the BJP would give such a government that it would rid the State of corruption and make Karnataka number one in South India within five years. Addressing a public meeting at Sandur, a Congress stronghold, in this district, Shah also took potshots at the M Mallikarjun Kharge-led outfit and the JD(S), saying they were dynastic parties which cannot do good to the people. "On one hand there is PM Modi-led BJP strengthening India, and on the other there is Rahul Gandhi-led Congress linked with 'Tukde-Tukde' gang", he said. Trust PM Modi and Yediyurappa once, and we (BJP) will give such a government that it will rid Karnataka of corruption and make it a number one state in South India, Shah said Assembly elections are due in Karnataka by May.
Daiki Axis Japan will infuse fresh investments to expand its presence in south India, a company official said. In November, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar inaugurated the company's second unit in India in Palwal, which was set up with an investment of Rs 200 crore to produce sewage water treatment units. A unit is already operational at Vapi in Gujarat. When asked about future investment plans, Kamal Tiwari, CEO of Daiki Axis India, said: "Our next plan is to set up a factory either in Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka or Tamil Nadu. "Meetings have already been done with all these states. As we start getting approvals, we will begin construction work immediately by 2023 to cater our demand." The company's long-term plan is to set up a manufacturing unit in each state of India, he said. The Vapi and Palwal plants on an average have the annual capacity to produce around 1,000 sewage water treatment units each with Japanese "Johkasou" technology used to treat domestic