New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to mark the beginning of BJP' 2019 poll campaign by addressing a political rally at Gurdaspur in Punjab on Thursday. The rally shall be Prime Minister's first of this year. In wake of the PM's visit, the security has been beefed up in the border district of Punjab. Enroute to Gurdaspur, the Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Jalandhar district of Punjab on Thursday to inaugurate the 106th edition of Indian Science Congress (ISC)-2019.

BJP would look to step up the momentum in Punjab where the SAD-BJP alliance was trounced by the Congress in the 2017 Assembly elections after having ruled for ten years. In fact, the alliance finished third, behind even AAP.

The Congress has four Lok Sabha members while the SAD also has four. The BJP has only one Lok Sabha member from Punjab.

A leading daily quoted Punjab BJP president Shwait Malik credited PM Modi for doing the most for Punjab as the PM. He cited the opening of Kartapur Corridor, bringing the perpetrators of anti-Sikh riots of 1984 to justice and exemption of GST from langar items to Modi government.