Prime Minister Narendra Modi will find support in Tamil Nadu as he is most likely to get a second term, BJP national secretary Muralidhar Rao has said.

In an interview with The Hindu, he said the black flag protests and social media campaigns [#GoBackModi] against the Prime Minister during his recent visits to the State were orchestrated by the DMK.

Mr. Rao said the BJP-AIADMK coalition was well-placed to sweep the State in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.

“Previously, orchestrated campaigns like #GobackModi by the DMK were a one-way game. Now, you also see campaigns welcoming Mr. Modi trending at the national and global level. [Campaigns] welcoming Mr. Modi will overtake [others] at the social level (on the field) as well,” he said.

Mr. Rao denied that the BJP was trying to steamroll the AIADMK’s dominance in the alliance after a video surfaced of Deputy Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam’s meeting with BJP president Amit Shah, where Mr. Shah was seen insisting that election programmes of the AIADMK-BJP front will be called NDA programmes going forward.

“There is absolutely no conflict or confusion in the relationship. The PM candidate is an NDA candidate. So, when he comes for campaigning to, say Kanniyakumari, obviously, all alliance partners will have to come. If they don’t come, then everyone will say they have not come, something is wrong, no?” he asked.

Such events where the Prime Minister will participate during the election campaign will be the NDA events, he said.

When asked if other election events where the AIADMK would be campaigning for the BJP would be called AIADMK-led events, Mr. Rao said they were part of an ‘AIADMK-led’ alliance in T.N. “BJP is not the driving party here. We have got 5 seats. It is the AIADMK which is the driving party and EPS-OPS are the natural leaders of the campaign,” he said.

On the possibility of the DMDK joining the alliance, he said the BJP and the AIADMK were engaged in discussions. “If they (DMDK) come, this coalition will become stronger and more robust. Regarding the maturity of the talks, (I am) not in a position to tell [anything] publicly,” he said.

Mr. Rao also slammed the DMK-Congress combine, saying they lacked the ability to win the elections. “They have two disadvantages. Rahul (Gandhi) as PM is a natural disadvantage for the campaign in Tamil Nadu. Then, the DMK itself is lacking a leader who has approval (among the electorate),” he said. The AIADMK–BJP alliance did not have that kind of a disadvantage, he said, adding, “Jayalalithaa is not there. But Modi is there.”