To answer my own question (I am sure in a few year's time I'll have to look it up again and hop to find this then), this seems to work: 
use strict;
use Term::ReadLine;

my $term = Term::ReadLine->new('a');

# use vi-mode
$term->parse_and_bind("set editing-mode vi");

print "you entered: " .  $term->readline("Enter something: ");

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In reply to Re: vi mode in readline by morgon
in thread vi mode in readline by morgon

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