Hindutva's Hriday Samrat couldnt have found a campaign venue more after his own hriday than this. Better than any in home state Gujarat,where he only had to take on the boring minority-appeasing Congress,as,in Coimbatore,he could tear into the Left too. The CPI(M)s P R Natarjan and Congressman P R Prabhu consider each other the main rival here,even as the variable distance between their leaders in New Delhi is turning out to be the mother of all uncertainties this poll season. Sheer glee for Narendra Modi. Donning a 1000-lotus garland,Modi blesses everyone of the BJPs feet-touching candidates from the neighbourhood. The partys local contender for the Lok Sabha G K S Selvakumar himself gets no more than this gestural support. In an hour-long speech,Modis vocal support goes all out to the partys biggest Coimbatore man,Advaniji who was reborn right here. He escaped the serial blast in 1998 in this traditional industrial town,which of all places had turned terror-prone,thanks to the vote-bank politics pursued by kursi-bhakts. And we deshbhakts should defeat them. Coimbatores electorate had promptly done its patriotic deed by giving the BJPs C P Radhakrishnan two successive freak wins in 1998 and 1999,before turning to other choices on bread and butter issues. Modi,however,wont let you lower your guard and move on in a hurry. If 1998 is too far behind,Mumbai is close enough. Remember the five days of shame when the state vanished,when the Cabinet was sitting back and surfing TV channels on which the terrorists were freely giving interviews? To stress the point,Modi acts out a vivid scene unseen on TV: Your very own Chidambaram,the countrys mighty Home Minister,was in Washington with a headload of CDs,crying out for help. Bachao,Obama,Obama,Oh,Ma,Ma! This all too brief song and dance interlude is just what the crowd was waiting for. It needs no interpreter to burst into instant applause. Modi quickly recovers his poise lest he be accused of overdoing what he is about to accuse Manmohan Singh ofa newfound demonstrative articulation. The PM has lately come alive. He is shaking his fists,waving his hands and talking louder than ever before. Why? Because Advaniji called him the weakest PM the country has seen. By which we dont mean medically weak,only in terms of governance. He promptly transports the spineless PM to an emotive Lankan context with a matching twist to boot. How can this weak leader stop the atrocities on our very own blood brothers in Lanka? The colour of their passport may be different but its the same Hindu blood that runs through their veins. Why must Modi let go of the next best combo deal after the Congress-Left love-hate? Neither a weak PM nor a fasting CM can save Tamils. Both have the same culture,family rule. Delhis son and daughter run hither and thither. So do Chennais sons and daughter. We alone know where we are going. Which could well be to Poes Garden. All through an address at its unsparing best,there was eloquent silence on Jayalalithaa. Not even a mention of why she is backing the evil comrades. Why utter words youll have to struggle with later? The only time Modi was at a loss was when he tried to wrap up his speech with some mandatory Tamil.
