Thiruvananthapuram: The opening of a 13-kilometre bypass road by Indian Prime minister Narendra Modi in Kerala was overshadowed by heckling from the crowd and the ongoing dispute over the Sabarimala temple.

One of the low points of the formal inauguration ceremony to open the Kollam town bypass was when some people in the crowd began booing as Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan spoke.

When Vijayan spoke, some in the crowd booed while others chanted prayers to Ayyappa, the deity at the disputed Sabarimala temple.

Vijayan’s Communist Party of India Marxist (CPM) government in Kerala is accused by the BJP of showing “unnecessary enthusiasm” in getting women to visit Sabarimala, after the Supreme Court quashed gender discrimination at the temple and allowed women of all ages to go the hill shrine.

At the road inauguration ceremony, the chief minister himself chided those who booed, but it was clear that there was unpleasantness all around.

Local media reported that Modi himself was miffed by the display of such behaviour at a function in which he was participating, and that he pulled up the local Bharatiya Janata Party leaders for the disagreeable behaviour from some among the crowd.

Ayyappa devotees have been chanting praises to the deity during protests across the state over the past month, and this seemed to playout again during the road bypass inauguration attended by the PM and chief minister.

Meanwhile, on social media, trolls had a field day taking jibes at the PM for inaugurating a minor road bypass.

One internet user, Arjun Ramakrishnan wrote, “Everybody knows that Kerala is the most developed state in India. But even Keralites themselves had no idea that their state is so developed for the PM to come and inaugurate a small bypass here, spending crores on his security”.

Writer and former bureaucrat, N.S. Madhavan tweeted, “My respect for Smriti Irani suddenly goes up. At least she got a CAT scan machine to inaugurate. Look at Modi, travelling 3,500 kms all the way to Kollam, to open a two-lane, 13km bypass!”