Palakkad: Tension briefly gripped the venue where Prime Minister Narendra Modi was set to address a BJP rally after smoke was seen coming from an amplifier, police said on Sunday.

Officials said the incident took place shortly before the Prime Minister arrived at Kottamaidanam, the rally site in the district.

The officials said that around half an hour before Modi reached Palakkad, smoke was noticed coming from an amplifier connected to the microphones.

Sound system operators and police personnel immediately intervened and removed the amplifier.

"Immediate action was taken on noticing the smoke. The mic operators said the amplifier may have overheated due to overload," an official said.

Another amplifier was quickly put in place, and the issue was resolved, officials added.

A jam-packed crowd had gathered at Kottamaidanam to witness Modi's rally.

Large numbers of people also lined both sides of the road to catch a glimpse of Modi, who arrived by helicopter, landing at the Mercy College ground. 

Addressing a public rally ahead of the assembly elections in the state, Modi said, "The LDF and UDF have looted Kerala for decades by sharing the spoils; there has been an understanding between them that for some years the LDF will run the government and fill their pockets, then after a few years the UDF will loot. Our Kerala has gotten entangled in this alliance of theirs. These days, the communists and Congress have joined hands to start a new propaganda, where the Communists say that Congress is the B team of the BJP, and Congress says that the Communists are the B team of the BJP. These people have accepted that if there is one team this time, it is only the BJP."

Targeting the INDIA bloc, the Prime Minister said, "Today, the truth about who is whose B-team in the upcoming elections needs to be revealed to the people of Kerala. They are in an alliance with each other across the country. Look at Bihar, look at Jharkhand, look at Andhra Pradesh, Manipur, Tripura, Assam. They are together in the INDI alliance; even in Tamil Nadu, they are in alliance. But here in Kerala, the Congress and the Left parties are abusing each other. That's why you should be careful about both of them," said the Prime Minister.