New Delhi, May 4: BJP leaders Narendra Modi and Sushma Swaraj are emerging as the most sought after campaigners for the party in the Karnataka Assembly elections. While Modi is a hit with the youths, Sushma has a special appeal among the state’s women ever since she contested against Congress president Sonia Gandhi during 1999 Bellary Lok Sabha election.

“We have requested Modiji to spend at least two days a week here till the elections,” said a state BJP leader said. The demand for the Gujarat Chief Minister as the party’s campaigner has been specially pouring in from centres like Bangalore, Mysore, Davangere, Hubli, Gulbarga, Belgaum and Bagalkot. “It’s the youths who want to listen to Modi,” said a leader assisting party’s chief ministerial candidate B S Yedyurappa.

“Considering the volume of demand, Modi is not averse to flying everyday to Karnataka’s urban centers after 4 pm, addressing a public meeting or two, and then fly back to Gandhinagar to attend his official business the following morning,” said a leader engaged in planning the tour plans of Central leaders.

“Advaniji remains the party’s face. Apart from him, Rajnathji and Venkaiahji would be campaigning extensively. But Modiji and Sushmaji are the flavour of the season. Even in Bellary, Modiji’s popularity is next only to Sushmaji,” said a state BJP office-bearer.

Modi has kept Hindutva on the backburner, focusing instead on the agrarian crisis, price rise, development, and the great betrayal (by the JD-S) in the meetings that he has addressed so far. Apart from the state’s requirements, this is in keeping with Modi’s strategy of a makeover from an unabashed Hindutva votary to a “diligent practitioner of development politics”. When language proves a hindrance, Modi engages a local leader (former Minister of state in the Vajpayee Cabinet, V Dhananjay Kumar, for instance) to translate his speech into Kannada.

Sushma, on the other hand, uses her emotional bond with the state to the advantage of the party. After the Bellary election, the BJP leader has been visiting the state every year to celebrate “Varmalaxmi Puja” that fell during the 1999 election period. “They regard me as a Kannada putri (daughter of Karnataka). So this is only to be expected,” she told The Indian Express. The senior BJP leader, known for her excellent oratorical skills, combines a fair smattering of Kannada (that she picked during her campaign against Indira Gandhi in the 1978 Lok Sabha byelection in Chikmagalur) in her speeches. “We were asked to drop the references to the Congress and the Union Government in our party’s TV campaign that targeted the exponential rise in food prices. But can they stop me from using my rallies to drive home the point?” she asked. On the demand for Modi in the state, she added: “He has his own charisma and thus following.”