Did this break the ice, will the south folk vote for the BJP? Much to Modi’s delight, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi gave him the much needed opening. Rahul Gandhi spoke of ‘Hindu’ and ‘Shakti’ in the same breath and Prime Minister Narendra Modi was suddenly breathing easier. The feigned outrage covered up for the sheer delight coursing through the veins – an opportunity to make the faux pas pay for the Bharatiya Janata Party.

Isn’t polarizing the vote key to snatching victory from the jaws of defeat? In Kerala, Modi conducted a roadshow in Palakkad. The party also held a bike rally there. Prime Minister Modi’s “south push” relied a lot on roadshows and rallies. Modi addressed a meeting in the Pathanamthitta Lok Sabha constituency, from where Congress leader AK Antony’s son Anil Antony is contesting. State BJP leaders say the Bharatiya Janata Party will snatch a couple of seats from Kerala “this time”.

That includes the Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha seat of Congress leader Shashi Tharoor. The author-Member of Parliament is facing Modi’s ministerial colleague Rajeev Chandrashekar this time and he might also be fighting anti-incumbency. Mind you, however, the brouhaha over Rahul Gandhi’s Shivaji Park remarks isn’t going to work in Kerala though it might in Thiruvananthapuram. Problem is, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s fierce rebound post Rahul’s remarks is lost in translation.

Modi, however, spoke in Artificial Intelligence-Tamil to a crowd in Tamil Nadu's Kanyakumari, which was a breakthrough, indeed. But how far will Modi’s speeches help NDA candidates in the south? "The Lotus is going to bloom in Kerala," the Prime Minister said. In North Karnataka, he engaged with party workers in Dharwad, Belagavi and Haveri. PM Modi’s frequent visits to the South had become necessary for achieving number ‘370’. Without the south contributing with “Lok Sabha seats”, Modi and the BJP would be up Kerala's ‘Bharata Nadi’ without a paddle.

Karnataka also has rivers. So do Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Modi was thrilled after Rahul Gandhi’s “Shakti-pradarshan”. The “Shakti thing” that Rahul Gandhi referred to when describing the “force” behind India's troubles, however, may not resonate in the South. It would not be enough to make people lose their mind and vote for the Bharatiya Janata Party. Electoral dynamics in the South is beyond the pale and understanding of the best intellects of the so-called “Baniya-Brahmin Party”.

That is being nasty, though that is how things are. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is aiming for at least one Lok Sabha seat each from Kerala and Tamil Nadu; and more than one from Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. From Karnataka plenty more. Union Minister Pralhad Joshi represented the Dharwad Lok Sabha constituency in the last two Lok Sabhas; another try and he could be a five-time Member of Parliament from Dharwad.

The Prime Minister was to address a public meeting in Salem, Tamil Nadu, on March 19. That is when news came that the BJP and the PMK of Ramadoss had signed a seat-sharing agreement. The BJP expects a breakthrough in Tamil Nadu. If so, watch out for Modi hogging headlines on June 4, when votes will be counted after perhaps the longest ever election season, from April 19 to June 1.

The PMK alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party saved the BJP from being declared a pariah in Tamil Nadu. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been making visit after visit to Tamil Nadu with the hope that the BJP will finally get out of the rut. Tamil Nadu has 39 Lok Sabha seats. The BJP is hoping that the Ayodhya Ram Mandir Pran Pratishtha finally wakes up Tamil Nadu’s “Hindus” to the decades-old Dravidian hegemony.

The last two days saw Prime Minister Narendra Modi could not get Rahul Gandhi out of his head. In fierce counter attacks, Modi said he is a “Shakti worshipper” and he sees “Shakti” in every woman of India. Rahul Gandhi sought to clarify his controversial remarks but it wouldn’t be easy for the Congress leader. Modi wears too many masks to be bothered about one. Rahul Gandhi’s comment “He is a shallow man who doesn’t have a 56-inch chest” must have hurt, though.

The orange glow of Modi's south sojourn must have dimmed after Rahul Gandhi’s concerted attacks on the BJP at the Shivaji Park INDI-Alliance public meeting to welcome Rahul Gandhi at the conclusion of the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra. Gandhi in the eye of the storm blasted the EVM and bodies like the ED, the CBI, and the Income Tax department which were allegedly working under the control of a “Shakti” that wore a BJP toga.

Addressing a rally in Telangana, Modi asked the audience to wait till June 4 for the empire to strike back. “The INDI Alliance has expressed its manifesto when it said it is fighting against ‘Shakti’. For me every mother, every daughter of this country is a manifestation of ‘Shakti’. I worship you as ‘Shakti’. I am a worshipper of Bharat Ma and I accept the challenge of those who have taken a pledge at Shivaji Park yesterday to finish off ‘Shakti’. I will risk my life to protect our mothers and sisters.” How much of this will work in the 'South' is to be seen? (IPA Service)