Trump brings the novelty factor to India, but this is still the Modi show

Analysis: The US president can claim to have addressed 125,000 ‘fans’ in his greatest ever political rally on Monday – but is he really that popular in India? Adam Withnall reports from Ahmedabad

Protesters in Kolkata burn an effigy of Donald Trump as they demonstrate against his visit (EPA)

Donald Trump joked before coming here to India that the trip might spoil American political rallies for him.

His logic was that after addressing 125,000 people in a brand new, state-of-the-art cricket stadium in Ahmedabad, having 45,000 or so supporters turn out in New Hampshire would pale by comparison.

He might as well not have worried. For while it is true that the US president is unlikely to draw such large audiences in his home country, he is also unlikely to be subjected to the mass walkout he experienced in India.

Right from the off, there was a sense that this rally was more about Narendra Modi than his guest.

Ahmedabad is the town where a young Modi made his name, working his way up through the ranks of Hindu nationalist volunteer group the RSS, and then the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

The wider state, Gujarat, elected him chief minister three times before he was finally picked for higher office and became prime minister.

Asked who he would cheer for loudest, Trump or Modi, one spectator told me: “Modi, of course. He is our prime minister, and he came from Gujarat. He is so famous now, even in other countries. Yes, we are very proud of Modi.”

That isn’t to say that Trump is unpopular here: quite the contrary. Indeed, the uptake of cardboard Trump masks was said to be outdoing that of Modi masks by a factor of 10 to one.

When asked, members of the audience all said they loved Trump, calling him “charismatic” and “a great leader”, but none could specify a single policy or achievement of his presidency that they liked.

It was more the novelty of this event – the first in the stadium, the first “road show” for a foreign leader, the largest state-visit in terms of scale and security operation – that people seemed excited about. Trump is, after all, a major on-screen celebrity in a country where that goes a very long way.

The crowd had also been carefully selected, on an invitation-only basis, from organisations and institutions that could be trusted to be pro-Modi.

Bussed in from Ahmedabad, the rest of Gujarat, and even neighbouring states, they ate up their prime minister’s signature call-and-answer style of crowd interaction, chanting back in unison.

By the time Trump came to speak, some in the audience had been sat out in the sweltering sun for several hours. Most wouldn’t have understood English, and even the Hindi subtitles projected behind the president wouldn’t have meant anything to those who only speak the regional language of Gujarati.

And so, far from being fired up by Trump, the enthusiasm drained from the crowd as he spoke. First a trickle, then a stream of people started heading for the exits.

Shout-outs to cricket – “Soo-chin Tendulkar!” and to Indian cinema – “Bollywood!” – were met with muted cheers. A wish that India will achieve better relations with Pakistan was met with stony silence.

By the time Modi got back up onstage to give a sort of vote of thanks, huge swathes of the stadium were empty.

Elsewhere in the country, critics of Modi took to the streets to protest against Trump’s visit, with effigies of the US president being burned in Kolkata.

On the plane to Agra, the next destination on his whistle-stop tour, Trump was still enthusiastic about “incredible” India.

Tuesday’s trade talks, however, will be a far thornier affair, and by the time they get to their elaborate state dinner in the evening, it may be that Trump will be feeling homesick for the sure ground of the 2020 campaign, and for crowds that stick around to the end of his speeches.