Hours before Oppn I.N.D.I.A meets in Mumbai, Chandrababu says 'Modi's leadership' matters

 

Hours before Oppn I.N.D.I.A meets in Mumbai, Chandrababu says 'Modi's leadership' matters

New Delhi 

All eyes are on the Mumbai meeting of the I.N.D.I.A Opposition alliance on August 31 and September 1.  Speculation is rife on the agenda including who will be convener or presented as the face of the alliance and also on the alliance's flag and seat adjustment talks. 

Meanwhile, N Chandrababu Naidu, TDP supremo, who was in Delhi told a select group of journalists at an informal meeting that having a 'clear face' vis-a-vis Narendra Modi for the NDA is a "huge advantage" for the saffron alliance as against the newly floated I.N.D.I.A.

He declined to field questions on the I.N.D.I.A opposition combine and its strategies and prospects saying making any comment on these would not be good or prudent on his part.  Naidu has been an expert hand in coalition politics since the 1980s when non-Congress parties led by Janata Dal and including TDP under N T Rama Rao (NTR) and other regional parties had formed the National Front. 

In the mid-nineties he was the convener of the United Front that came to power in 1996 and 1997 and gave two Prime Ministers H D Deve Gowda and Late I K Gujral. 

"My priority is not alliance making or so...I want to rebuild my state Andhra Pradesh and also contribute in nation building," Naidu said. 

Even in 2019, after parting ways from the Narendra Modi-led NDA, Naidu had taken a key interest in forging a strong anti-BJP alliance. But it is an altogether different chapter that the efforts did not yield expected results.

At a luncheon meeting with journalists in Delhi, the TDP supremo declined to admit that his party's move in 2018 to part ways from NDA was a 'mistake'. However, he merely said, "Then we had an issue of the Special Status for Andhra Pradesh, it was an emotive issue...There is no other major difference between TDP and the BJP or the NDA".

During his stay in the national capital on Aug 28 and 29, Chandrababu Naidu in a 11-page letter submitted to the Chief Election Commissioner, alleged that the YSRCP government in Andhra is running a parallel election machinery. 

“All of them work under the supervision of the nominated leaders by the ruling YSRCP in the name of Gruha Saradhulu and Sachivalaya conveners. These staff members, around 1.45 lakh in number, who are novices to the poll process, have been appointed as booth-level officers in place of employees suggested by ECI,” he said in the letter.

The former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister, who is credited for building a modern and IT hub Hyderabad (or Cyberabad), has been lately all praise for Prime Minister Narendra Modi in taking 'an assertive image' of India overseas.

"Earlier even during Atal Bihari Vajpayee's time, only I as the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh used to travel abroad. Even Dr Manmohan Singh had limited travel. But Mr Modi has changed all that," Naidu reportedly told his party colleagues and a group of well wishers, sources said.

"Modi's visit has made Indians abroad confident," he reportedly remarked.

The TDP chief is also focusing on certain governance Mantras and seems to share the 'idealism' of Modi that it will be a completely 'new India' in 2047.

For that, sources said, Naidu has been planning a road map for immediate and long term future and these include among other things 'an effective P-4 plan' wherein there is a need to go a step further from the usual P-3 (Public-Private-Partnership'. 'Population' should be made use of and perhaps there will be a need to draw out a good 'Population Management' plan.

Naidu with 2  UF PMs - Gujral & Deve Gowda

Reportedly, Naidu said, "Unlike the past, now it is time to take people and the population as assets. There should also be encouragement for young parents to have 2 or even three children....as most working couples are now settling down for one child norm". 

"A day will come around 2047 when people may find launching an industry as an easier option than to bring up a child," a source claimed quoting Mr Chandrababu Naidu.

The former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister, however, believes that -- "Indians have a robust survival instinct and that will work as a major advantage for India in next 20-25 years". 

In his interaction with party colleagues and well wishers, Naidu made a strong pitch for ensuring Ganga to Cauvery link and also taking up projects related to solar energy, wind and pumped water.

To a question what difference does he find between BJP under Atal Bihari Vajpayee and the Lotus party now under Modi, he told the questioner, "Can you tell me how many children you have; or how things are difference as parents between you and your wife. Every leadership has its own distinct style. One will be dynamic another will be strong etc".  

Ends

(Nirendra Dev is a New Delhi-based journalist. He is also author of the books ‘The Talking Guns: North East India’, and ‘Modi to Moditva: An Uncensored Truth’. Views expressed are personal)