Kerala: PM Modi receives rousing welcome, thousands line the road to see him

Thiruvananthapuram: Prime Minister Narendra Modi received a rousing welcome in the Kerala state capital on Tuesday when he arrived here as part of his two-day visit to the state to attend various programmes and launch several projects, including flagging off of the Vande Bharat Express.

After Modi landed at the Thiruvananthapuram airport, his journey to the Central Railway Station was akin to a roadshow as thousands lined up on the roadsides, hours in advance, to greet him and showered him with flowers as his cavalcade passed them.

The PM briefly stood on the footboard of his vehicle, surrounded by SPG personnel, to wave at the public as well as party workers and supporters on the roadside who cheered him on with drum beats and chants of 'Modi'.

Along the entire route from the airport to the railway station, thousands of people of all ages and from all walks of life as well as BJP workers and supporters, carrying party flags and placards of Modi, were gathered on the roadside braving the hot and humid weather.

Besides the thousands gathered on the roadside, cutouts of the PM and the Vande Bharat Express were also put up along the nearly six km-long route to the railway station.

The entire state capital was under a tight security net, with deployment of hundreds of police personnel and stringent traffic restrictions, as the PM travelled from the airport to the railway station.