Beneath the dust and din of campaign jeeps and streetside meetings, Kasargod is throbbing with an unheard anticipation. It could be hope or apprehension, depending on the perspective. At this north Kerala seat which AK Gopalan won thrice and the CPM has held continuously since 1989, the BJP is preparing for a rare direct fight with the communists.

Kasargod has been prone to frequent communal eruptions. The district straddles Canara, and has clusters of strong saffron pockets with a mixed Malayali-Kannadiga population. About 30% voters are Muslim, and several fundamentalist Islamic outfits operate here, including some that attempt to enforce quasi-Taliban law in pockets under their control.

The divide is old, beginning with a strident pro-Pakistan din on independence-eve. There was tension over detaching Kasargod from Kerala: Hindus, mostly Kannadigas, wanted to go to Karnataka; Muslims wanted to stay with Kerala. Saffron groups still bring the issue up, and the BJP hopes for a spillover of sympathetic sentiment from Karnataka across the border.

In the Kasargod-Mangalore belt, local erstwhile bidi barons gave Hindutva an early push. They realised the threat to their highly exploitative industry from neighbouring Kannur where the Kerala communist movement had its beginnings, and sought to build saffron as a foil to Red.

Last month, a Hindu woman on her way to a temple died after allegedly jumping off an autorickshaw in fright after the Muslim driver took an unfamiliar route. Soon, saffron mobs were out attacking Muslim homes in Muliyur. “It was unbelievable. How can anyone think a Muslim would actually dare to kidnap a Hindu woman in broad daylight in an autorickshaw, all by himself ?” asks a cleric in Muliyur village panchayat.

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