Narendra Modi tipped as India's next prime minister Despite the controversy surrounding his role at the time of the riots, his stature has grown steadily since then and he has built a reputation for turning Gujarat into one of India's best-governed and most affluent states. His party has lost the last two general elections and has yet to transform its fortunes, but Mr Modi is increasingly seen as the leader who could finally return the Hindu nationalist party to power. Britain announced it would end its boycott in October and sent its High Commissioner to meet Mr Modi as part of its drive to increase trade with India, while the United States said he would be eligible to apply for another visa. Both decisions were driven in part by the possibility that Mr Modi could be India's next prime minister. He won 115 of 182 seats in the state assembly and marked his victory by apologising for his past mistakes while his supporters chanted "PM" in celebration. The BJP's leader in the Indian parliament's upper house, Arun Jaitley, said his past should no longer constrain his future. Gujarat had a very unfortunate situation in the social tensions, in the riots in 2002. Now the agenda of politics of Gujarat has grown, Narendra Modi has grown. He has tried his best to get out of that agenda and take Gujarat to a very positive agenda. And this election, if you see, is a result of that positive agenda," he said.