mangaluru prime minister narendra modis visit to mangaluru is seen as a poll strategy at a time when the bjp and its state president nalin kumar kateel in particular suffered a major setback following the murder of bjp worker praveen nettaru in bellare dakshina kannada is considered a bastion of the saffron party the bjp has asserted that modis visit to mangaluru though for official purposes is largely seen as a political game changer and to strengthen the party at the grassroots a senior party leader said we are surprised by the response a government programme resembled a political party convention people were less bothered about the projects and for many it was just about seeing and listening to the prime minister the grassroots workers who were divided over the recent murder of bjp worker praveen nettaru have all come together for the event this event will certainly help in winning back our karyakartas confidence though it was a government programme saffron flags were seen everywhere to keep over one lakh people who had gathered at the goldfinch city grounds engaged till the arrival of the prime minister an orchestra was organised at the venue when singer shankar shanbhag sang a devotional song dedicated to lord hanuman people started shouting jai jai hanuman a majority of the party workers came to the venue wearing saffron shawls and caps with bjp written on it most of the vehicles in which party workers arrived had bjp flags on them and were also seen outside the venue and across the city asha workers and students were also seen at the venue while mlas had visited homes asking people to attend the programme bjp yuva morcha representatives had visited various colleges urging students to be present for the programme whenever a minister arrived the public would start shouting modi modi people were also seen dancing at the venue and cheering for the prime minister till he reached the venue political analysts see this as an important gathering in the state after former chief minister siddaramaiahs birthday bash