KOLKATA: On Tuesday, the orange and green painted BJP state headquarters in north Kolkata 's Murlidhar Sen Lane was abuzz with rumours about the ruling Trinamool Congress party's dirty tricks to derail Narendra Modi 's rally. By the middle of Wednesday afternoon, though, as the Gujarat chief minister's helicopter made two victory laps in the air over Brigade Parade Ground, it was more like an SME had suddenly landed a mega order and was overwhelmed by the enormity of it all.Much before noon, people had begun streaming in on foot mainly from the northern side as buses from the districts had allegedly been diverted. The crowd appeared to comprise more men than women, and seemed particularly prone to lusty roars of Vande Mataram as patriotic songs played. And of course any "non-Bengalis" spouting Bangla - especially fluent speakers like former Jharkhand CM Arjun Munda, got the loudest approval.Till about an hour before Modi's arrival, in the VIP room below the main podium, local BJP stalwarts greeted guests and hazarded guesses about the mobilisation despite Mamata's alleged machinations. Meanwhile, in strategic corners of the room a vanguard of Modi's crack security team - stocky, crew-cut, muscular Gujarat policemen in grey safari suits with earpieces and telltale bulges on their left hips, kept watch.The usual rally provisions - mineral water, sandwiches and cakes from well known local confectioners, nothing escaped the Gujarat contingent's notice even as the local policemen waved boxes through. Every bottle was squeezed to check for tampering and every eatable was scanned with tiny devices worn like knuckle-dusters. Outside, the Kolkata Kops wrestled with what seemed like a heavy metal box. It turned out to be a bomb shield, rather belatedly assembled.Varun Gandhi also arrived fashionably late, after all the local leaders, fellow prabhari Siddharth Nath Singh and former NDA ministers Shahnawaz Husain and Tapan Sikdar. He was just in time to greet a new entrant: the famous magician PC Sorcar, minus his signature turban. Luckily for the well meaning but clearly overwhelmed local BJP volunteers - reedy gents in yellow/saffron kurtas and portly ladies in starched cotton sarees - Sorcar did not have to wave a wand to get crowds.An unexpected 1.5 lakh people eventually arrived, flags fluttering, NaMo masks used to ward off an unseasonally hot sun. As part of the crowd remained resolutely rowdy despite loud appeals to settle down, young Kolkata Police constables in trackpants and white tees (but armed with lathis) quelled them periodically. The women constables - a few in khaki but mostly in white salwar kameezes, sedately waited in the shade for the main VIP.The magnitude of the turnout - okay by Kolkata standards, unprecedented by local BJP standards - took its toll. Party volunteers were mostly confused about directions, with walkie-talkie interactions largely comprising questions rather than orders. Water was in short supply, even for the podiumwallahs.So while the periphery of the grounds were empty, dust from milling crowds hung over the left side and centre as people surged to be nearest to The Man. Ultimately, the ones who got nearest to Modi when he did arrive were the women constables, who all converged at the spot where his 20-car convoy halted, to smile at him. Didi may not be amused.