"There was a wave (in favour of BJP) in Dadra and Nagar Haveli local body elections which started from Gujarat due to Narendra Bhai and had an influence on the polls," BJP vice-president Najma Heptullah told reporters.
Seeking to downplay senior leader Sushma Swaraj's comments that Narendra Modi's magic may not work everywhere, BJP today said the Gujarat chief minister is a national-level leader and credited him for it's victory in local body polls in Dadra and Nagar Haveli.
"There was a wave (in favour of BJP) in Dadra and Nagar Haveli local body elections which started from Gujarat due to Narendra Bhai and had an influence on the polls," BJP vice-president Najma Heptullah told reporters.
Heptullah, who is in-charge of Dadra and Nagar Haveli gave credit to Modi and the development work he had done in Gujarat.
Modi, who is considered a Hindutva hardliner, was praised by Heptullah for fighting against those indulging in communal and votebank politics.
She maintained that Dadra and Nagar Haveli- which is governed by the Centre as it is a union territory- was impressed with the prosperity under Modi in neighbouring Gujarat.
"There is a lot of poverty in Dadra and Nagar Haveli," Heptullah said, claiming this will change in the near future with both MPs from the region being from her party.
She said since Dadra and Nagar Haveli are located very close to Gujarat, the influence of the state and its growth story is high on the locals.
Asked if this indicated that Modi was emerging as a national-level leader and would play a significant role at the Centre soon, party spokesperson Prakash Javadekar said, "Modi is a national-level leader."
This statement comes soon after the leader of opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj had said during the on-going Bihar poll campaign that Modi's magic may not work everywhere.
Many in the top rung of the party are said to be unhappy with this "uncalled for" statement from Swaraj.
"Nobody would agree with Swaraj on this issue, especially at a time when he has led the party to a sweeping victory in the local body elections in Gujarat," a senior leader said.
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