Chandrababu Naidu allays apprehensions, to stick with NDA

AMARAVATI: Telugu Desam Party (TDP) president Nara Chandrababu Naidu said that he is with the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and allayed apprehensions about supporting the INDIA bloc.

Answering a question about the purpose of his visit to New Delhi along with JSP chief Pawan Kalyan, he said that he was going there to attend the NDA meeting. “I know that you want scintillating news. I am with NDA and will update the details of the meeting after coming back from Delhi,” he said.

He thanked the people of the state for the historic victory at a press conference at his residence here on Wednesday.

"I have never seen this kind of Government in my long political career. In five years, the entire system has collapsed. Natural resources have been plundered. The YCP destroyed the surplus power that we brought. Power tariff has been increased nine times,” Naidu said.

The former Chief Minister pointed out that all democratic institutions suffered under YS Jagan Mohan Reddy’s rule. “Our goal is to ensure that people win the elections. Let's move forward to the future. No one is permanent in politics. The country, democracy, and parties are eternal,” he observed.

Historic election

Calling the elections and the verdict of the people as historic he added that If parties work properly, people will always support them. “People from America, migrant labour took pains to reach AP and voted. This is a historic election for the TDP,” he pointed out.

He recalled that in 1983, when NTR founded the party and contested the party won 200 seats. He said that history repeated and TDP achieved a great victory. “The alliance got 55.38 percent votes. The TDP got 45.60 percent and the YSRCP 39.37 percent,” he said.

Naidu said that the YCP was riddled with corruption and nepotism. In these five years, many TDP workers suffered. “They didn't sleep. Anyone who said ‘Jai TDP’ or ‘Jai Chandrababu Naidu’ was targeted and tortured. They were forced to say Jai Jagan. It is the result of the sacrifices of workers that democracy has been saved,” he said.

He noted that the media also faced many difficulties in the last five years. There have been incidents where democracy has been shamed, he said pointing out how JSP chief Pawan Kalyan was targeted by the YCP Government.

“If anyone asks why, cases were filed and they were arrested. The YCP did 30 years of damage in five years. One must remember that we are not rulers, we are servants. Our election manifesto has gone deep into the people, the onus of implementing that manifesto and the promises we made is on us,” Naidu said.

He added that Pawan Kalyan asserted that he would not allow the anti-government vote to split. “Now we won the elections and it is our responsibility to protect the state. The BJP is part of the alliance. We worked together without any problems. As partners in the NDA, we have moved ahead with responsibility. We have achieved tremendous success, "he said.