Kollam: At the 'Maha Sammelan' in Kollam on Tuesday, the BJP state president P S Sreedharan Pillai virtually challenged prime minister Narendra Modi to send tremors down the spine of the Pinarayi Vijayan government by threatening it with dire constitutional consequences.
Switching to English and directly addressing the prime minister, Pillai thundered: "Over 30,000 false cases have been registered by the Pinarayi government against BJP workers. More than 1,000 BJP workers are in jail without committing an offence. We cannot allow this. The Communist constitution is superseding the Indian Constitution. We hope that this great man will show them that it will be the Indian Constitution that will prevail in the end."
Narendra Modi did not take the bait. The only words that could have raised Pillai's hopes for a moment came towards the end of his speech.
"Do not underestimate the BJP karyakartha," he said.
"Your violence, and your ridicule cannot break the morale of the BJP karaykartha," he said.
But these words of caution were pointed at both the LDF and the UDF.
The prime minister's Kollam speech could be termed as one of his most tame.
The attributes that have made Modi's speeches such a marvel of political grandstanding – the sarcasm, the stinging jibe, the drama – were surprisingly absent.
He did not seem driven enough. The prime minister just glossed over issues that the state BJP unit was waiting to give an emotional spin.
It was almost as if he was coldly listing out a set of points to be taken up by his speech writers.
His reference to Sabarimala perhaps could have been the biggest let down for BJP workers.
Right when he began talking of Sabarimala during his nearly hour-long speech, a huge roar of approval rose from the audience. But he limited his comments to a couple of sentences of LDF bashing.
"The conduct of LDF govt in the Sabarimala issue will go down in history as one of the most senseless behaviour by any party in government. We knew that the communists do not respect Indian history, culture and spirituality. But nobody thought they had such hatred," he said.
There was also a weak attempt at sarcasm. "The Congress has multiple stands. They say one thing in Parliament but something else in Pathanamthitta. One thing on Monday and another thing on another day. I challenge the UDF to clearly state your stand on the issue. Your double speak has been exposed," he said.
There were no lusty cheers as is normal during a Modi stump speech.
At times, especially when he spoke of farmer welfare, he was least convincing.
"We will double farmer income by 2022. We have effected a historic increase in MSP for farmers," he said.
But as is widely known, what was of more historic significance were the two farmers' agitation held during his tenure.
The prime minister banged his chest about his economic achievements.
But GST was not picked as one. He has also been quite understandably silent about demonetisation, his most dramatic policy measure.
The only time Modi seemed to have some wind blowing in his favour was when he spoke of triple talaq and the 10 per cent economic reservation for the poor among the forward communities.
"The Left and the Congress make tall claims about respect for gender and social justice. But their actions are exactly the opposite. The NDA abolished triple talaq. But the Communists and the Congress are opposed to it. Several Islamic nations have banned it. But driven by vote bank politics, the Congress and Communists support it. I don't know why they are supporting a practice that is unjust to women," he said.
Modi seemed to have recovered some of his mojo while speaking about economic reservation, too. "A few days ago our government had the historic opportunity to pass a legislation to provide 10 per cent reservation for people from general category. Every Indian of any caste creed or community deserves equal opportunity. The Bill was passed by a historic majority in Parliament. But in the Lok Sabha three MPs voted against. Do you know which party opposed the bill tooth and nail," he said and then spelled out the name of the party alphabet by alphabet for effect. "I U M L. The Muslim League, the second largest partner in the UDF," he said.
It also looked as if the prime minister wanted to sound as inclusive as possible.
For instance, when he listed the names of Kerala's renaissance leaders he made sure not to make the LDF mistake.
He was careful to mention the Catholic priest Chavara Kuriakose Elias and the Muslim scholar and reformer Vakkom Abdul Khader Moulvi in the same breath as Narayana Guru, Chatambi Swamikal and Ayyankali.
Perhaps Modi's most electrifying line of the day had an inclusive flourish. "We all have the same blood coursing through our veins."
This strangely did not elicit much of an applause from the thousands of BJP workers gathered at the Peeranki grounds in Kollam.