“Modi with his hardline stand on Hindutva and assertiveness has gained a lot of followers among the youth. After his spectacular victory in the recent assembly election, he has certainly emerged as a national leader of the party,” said La Ganesan, President Tamil Nadu BJP.

Ganesan was speaking in Ahmedabad on Sunday while attending a function organised by the Ahmedabad Tamil Sangham at Khokra.

The leader had also visited the state prior to the December Assembly polls to garner support for Modi from the Tamil community.

He said, after former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and senior BJP leader Lal Krishna Advani, the party now has Narendra Modi who has garnered considerable support in the southern states.

“He is young and has a large fan following among the youth, and you should see the kind of public applause he generates in his meetings,” he said.

He said Modi would most certainly campaign for the party in the forthcoming Assembly elections in Karnataka, adding, that the Chief Minister has also been requested to campaign for a day or two in Tamil Nadu during the Lok Sabha elections.

Ganesan said, following his stupendous victory in the polls, Modi has emerged not only emerged as the tallest leader in Gujarat but also a national leader of the party.

“There is no question of the party getting uncomfortable with his growing stature. The NDA has already put forward Advani as its prime ministerial candidate, and there is a lot of time for Modi to get there. He still has a lot of work to do for Gujarat,” he added.

Reacting to speculations on a possible alliance with AIADMK before the Lok Sabha elections, following a luncheon meeting between Modi and Jayalalithaa at Chennai last month, Ganesan said the BJP was in no hurry to forge any alliance right now.