This was BJP's PM candidate Narendra Modi's first rally in Bihar. This was BJP's PM candidate Narendra Modi's first rally in Bihar.

Patna's historic Gandhi Maidan was packed to the brim with enthusiastic supporters. Patna's historic Gandhi Maidan was packed to the brim with enthusiastic supporters.

The multiple jimmy-jib cameras for an aerial view of the surging crowds. The fast camera movements copied from MTV shows. The steady cameras to track people on the stage. The professional event management firm for set design and hi-tech acoustics. The massive translites and gigantic LED screens.The stage seemed set more for a rock concert by the reigning superstar. But this was no music festival. This was BJP's PM candidate Narendra Modi's first rally in Bihar. And what a debut it was.Patna's historic Gandhi Maidan was packed to the brim with enthusiastic supporters who had travelled many hours from different parts of the state.They had come in especially-arranged trains and buses and had walked many miles to reach the Gandhi Maidan. Many had made their own arrangements to come and listen to a man who had so far been denied the opportunity to enter Bihar by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.The venue started filling up from the wee hours of the morning and by the time the Gujarat Chief Minister arrived around 1 pm, there was not an inch of free space.People had climbed onto roofs and terraces of high rise buildings adjoining the venue. They had even jumped onto Mahatma Gandhi's statue at the entrance of the ground.Every corner was taken. And as Modi was walking up the stage, an enthusiastic horde crashed through the barricades and entered the media enclosure and the VIP area. Chants of "Modi, Modi" filled the air, quite like the chants that rally for Sachin at the Wankhade Stadium.The crowd latched onto every word Modi spoke, quite like cricket fans would delight at every stroke Sachin played.There were multiple blasts near the venue of the rally just before Modi started speaking.At first they sounded like Diwali crackers being set off by enthusiastic supporters. But as news trickled in of casualties, tension gripped the air.Local BJP leaders came on the microphone and tried to downplay the explosions and dismissed them as "tyre blasts and firecrackers".The crowds were convinced that this was a conspiracy to ruin Modi's rally.On any other occasion, there would have been a mad scramble to get out of the venue and a stampede would have been highly likely.But despite the blasts, which saw dozens of injured being rushed to nearby hospitals, the crowds didn't move from their place.No mischief-maker was going to come between the crowds and Modi today.For the man himself, this rally was special. He had a point to prove. So far, coalition dharma had forced him to lie low and not respond to Nitish Kumar's constant barbs against him.But today, there was no alliance compulsion to hold him back. And Modi let loose.He started off in Bhojpuri, and a delighted crowd responded with "wah-wah".He spoke of Bihari pride and how the state government had failed to create jobs and was forcing Biharis to travel to Gujarat and elsewhere in search of employment.But the main target of Modi's speech was Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar, a leader he derisively referred to as his "friend".Modi called Nitish and "opportunist" and hollered: "People ask me why my friend left the BJP. I tell them those who can stab their guru Jai Prakash Narayan and Ram Manohar Lohia in the back can easily leave their long-time friend BJP. We sacrificed the chance of Sushil Kumar Modi becoming the chief minister in favour of my friend (Nitish Kumar) for the sake of clearing the 'Jungle Raj' in Bihar. Nitish didn't betray the BJP. He betrayed the people of Bihar. I want to ask you, will you punish those people who betrayed you?"For the first time at a public rally, Modi highlighted his roots as a chaiwallah selling tea at a railway platform during his early days in Gujarat.In a deeply casteist society, Modi tried to play up his credentials as a backward leader who understood the pain of the impoverished, unlike Rahul Gandhi, who was to the manor born."Congress leaders don't know what poverty and hunger are. I used to sell tea on trains. I know how difficult it is to get onto trains and make a living. Even the railway minister doesn't have my experience of the problems one faces on trains."Modi also tried to reach out to the Muslims of Bihar and promised them development."Our Muslim brothers in Bihar are so backward. In Gujarat, one of the fastest developing regions is Muslim-dominated. Let Hindus and Muslims together and work towards ending poverty. Our religion is India first. We have to maintain peace and harmony at any cost."However, the BJP's attempts to attract Muslims in large numbers to the rally did not materialise.Most people who came in trains, even from Muslim dominated areas like Kishanganj, were Hindus.Muslim presence at the Gandhi Maidan was minimal.Gandhi Maidan has seen massive rallies in the past. The historic rally of Jai Prakash Narain in 1974, in which he gave the war cry for 'Sampoorna Kranti' against the Indira Gandhi government, was held here.Also, Lalu Prasad's mega Garib Raila of 1995, which is supposed to have attracted a crowd of more than four lakh people, at a time when the RJD chief's popularity was at its peak in Bihar.The BJP is claiming that the Hunkar Rally on Sunday smashed all previous attendance records.Estimates vary wildly. By conservative estimates there were about 3 lakh people at the rally. The more exuberant among the BJP leaders say more than 10 lakh people attended.The real number may lie somewhere in between. But make no mistake, Modi sent a strong message from Gandhi Maidan.No other leader in Bihar today is capable of attracting such a big crowd to a rally.Most, in fact, avoid the maidan to hide their inability to fill up the ground.Most of the people who attended Sunday's rally were youngsters. Many were first time voters, who seemed more attracted to the aura of Modi than they were to the policies of the BJP.Whether Modi can live up to the expectations that he seems to have built up is not known. But the youngsters who gathered at the Gandhi Maidan seem to believe that the BJP leader has a magic wand with which he can cure India of its ills.They have heard of the Gujarat development model and they think Modi can turn Bihar into a land of milk and honey.Modi wanted a show of strength and he achieved that goal.But the real test is to see if Modi can convert the surging crowds at the rally into voters during the general elections.