Seriously, whoâ€™s afraid of Modi in Kerala?

Narendra Modi is coming and could very well be on the way. But the man and the message does not scare 'secular' Kerala. The one unheard slogan, a CPM favourite across Kerala in the 1990s, in the ongoing Lok Sabha election campaign is the one about "secularism is in danger".

The Babri Masjid demolition (December 6, 1992) had become so remote until Thursday when Cobrapost brought it back to the national consciousness through a sting operation in which kar sevaks confessed that the whole thing was planned. But even back then, when riots sparked by the demolition had shaken the very foundations of the country, Kerala and West Bengal remained peaceful.

Now with Modi emerging as a hot favourite to become the prime minister, minorities in the state are not particularly alarmed.

The trend is welcome and a pointer to the new-found confidence of minorities.

Muslims, the new economic force in Kerala, are sure of their place in the state. In Kochi, Kerala's commercial capital, four of the five leading malls are owned by Muslim entrepreneurs. Now, you cannot win them over by stepping up to defend their secular rights, a tactic DYFI, CPM's youth organization, used to capitalise on. Gone are those days, almost.

Muslims have their own party in more ways than one. And if there are any runway outcomes these elections, it is in Ponnani and Malappuram. So certain is the victory of Muslim League candidates in these constituencies that splinter Muslim groups such as the Welfare Party and the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) also are in the fray, a move which is dismissive of the Modi threat.

On the other hand, various Christian churches have been praying for Modi's success by publicly acknowledging his 'expected' coronation as the most natural thing to happen in the upcoming polls. During Modi's visit to Kochi in February, two senior bishops of the Orthodox Syrian Church had paid their fealty to him. It may be incidental, but the Orthodox church is the only denomination which does not have a candidate among both the major fronts. As for the Catholic Church, Modi is not a worry, not as much as its crusade against the two devils, who go by the names Madhav Gadgil and Kasturirangan.

The biggest loser of all this is CPM. It has lost its USP as the defender of the faithful even though it is a party of non-believers. It has lost both its ideology and minority votes it could bank on playing the 'secular' card. The danger, however, is in the silent dog whistles of casteism and communalism that are blowing all across our constituencies. Listen carefully to what the bishops, clerics and community leaders say. It will matter more than what Modi has to say in Kasaragod on April 8.