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Arrival at a hurriedly built helipad, a road show along the way, temple visits, a BJP workers’ meeting or public rally, announcing central schemes for the respective state and finally inaugurating a couple of Union government programmes. This is the standard itinerary for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ongoing southern forays.
He has already covered temples like Tirupathi and Veerbhadra in Andhra Pradesh, Ranganathswamy and Rameshwaram in Tamil Nadu, and Guruvayur and Thriprayar in Kerala. At all these places, he had road shows and political meetings.
As per the present schedule, about 140 Modi rallies have been lined up across the country during the next three months.
Weeks before a PM visit, the first thing the security officials do is to persuade the media not to carry adverse reports and the details of security measures in ‘national interest.’ Thus, people come to know about the rigorous traffic restrictions and omnipresent barricades only when they appear along the long stretch.
As many as 22,000 police personnel were deployed in Chennai when Modi came to participate in the Khelo India Youth games as part of a five-layer security for the PM. This is in addition to the SPG and an army of security personnel.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the inauguration of Khelo India Youth Games in Chennai on January 19, 2024. Photo: X (Twitter)/@narendramodi.
At Srirangam, it was 3,500 plus security paraphernalia. At Guruvayur, 2,000 police personnel were deployed.
The level of security for former PMs, including Vajpayee during the Kargil war, was a fraction of what Modi has.
In Guruvayur, traffic halted on all artery roads to the temple town for about ten kms for 18 hours before Modi arrived at a helipad hurriedly built at a school ground. There was also a rehearsal before this. This meant about a hundred vehicles, some from outside the state, held up outside the sanitized periphery.
Four governors of southern states had also come to meet Modi. Their security also added to the disruption. Traffic police had announced details of traffic diversions at the last minute. Buses along the route carrying officegoers in the morning got delayed. Due to diversions, many passengers were told to get down at odd places far away from their destinations.
While the mainstream media played it safe, parallel media had graphic details of patients who were held up on their way to the general hospital at Kochi. At all places, the first sign of a Modi roadshow is the appearance of barricades. At Kochi, the barricades put up prevented egress and ingress of the residents until Modi left.
Since the roadshow was in the evening, it held up a large number of those returning home from the offices. The disruption of public transport made it worse. Many had to walk long distances.
The Guruvayur Krishna temple is a preferred place for initiation of rice feeding for babies, tulabharam and weddings — a practice which began in the mid-20th century and can be traced to church marriages. Rice feeding and tulabharam were cancelled for the day due to the Modi visit.
Thousands of devotees, who visit the temple from faraway places, had to wait outside the three-layer security or cancel it on that auspicious day. Sabarimala pilgrims, who were returning from the hill temple after the Makaravilakku, usually visit Guruvayur. Most of the pilgrim groups had to cancel their visit or wait for Modi’s departure.
Over 80 marriages were scheduled that day. At the last minute, 31 of these were rescheduled between as early as 5 am and 6 am, a safe two hours before Modi’s arrival. Among them was a couple I know from Vadakkancheri whose wedding was originally scheduled between 8 am and 9 am.
After pleading with the Devaswam board chairman, they got it rescheduled between 5 am and 6 am. Adding to their woes, the SPG allowed only four persons to attend. The groom’s and brides’ parties had invited a large number of friends and relatives. All invitees, including NRI relatives who had come from abroad, had to sit outside the three-layer security ring. Reaching at 12 midnight, the parents had a harrowing time to get the entry passes to the temple.
Even after the ceremony at the temple, the parties were held up inside the complex as the SPG insisted they could leave only after Modi left. This meant they were held up for five hours. Earlier, two other marriage parties cancelled their wedding and left Guruvayur in a huff.
Due to Modi’s visit, the Guruvayur municipality and adjoining five panchayats closed all educational institutions. The SPG asked all guest houses and hotels to provide a list of their registered guests. Two days before, they were also ordered to cancel all registrations for two days and evict the guests before the Modi visit.
Among them were those who had come for month-long observances at the temple. Within the temple, all except 15 of its 40-odd attendants and office staff were told to leave. They were allowed in only after Modi left.
The BJP’s strategists in Delhi as well as state leaders maintain that each Modi visit to Kerala has helped the party make inroads into new sections of people. In the coming months, Narendra Modi is set to make more such visits to Kerala. According to a BJP leader, its high command has identified four or five winnable seats.
The party in the past was never able to win a parliament seat. It had its lone MLA in the previous assembly. In the last assembly polls, the party lost that seat too and the BJP drew a blank.
In the current Lok Sabha elections, it is concentrating on Thrissur where it is hoping to rely on the popularity of an actor-turned-politician. Apart from superior money power, the BJP high command expects its Christian outreach will bear fruit and enable it to win over local church leaders. This could tilt the balance in many constituencies.
P. Raman is a veteran journalist.
