Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief Chandrababu Naidu gave a ringing endorsement to Narendra Modi at the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) meet held at the Parliament’s Central Hall on Friday, June 7.
Naidu went on to claim that Modi had made India a “global powerhouse” and even seemed to largely credit the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for TDP’s win in the Andhra Pradesh Assembly elections, the results of which also came out on June 4. Naidu also officially announced the TDP’s endorsement to make Modi NDA’s parliamentary leader.
At the meeting, as per procedure, senior BJP leader Rajnath Singh first proposed that Modi must hold the post of NDA Parliamentary leader. The proposal was endorsed in turn by each alliance leader including Naidu. During his endorsement speech Naidu extended his congratulations to the NDA saying that they had won a “wonderful majority.” He also went on to heap praises on Modi and said, “ I have seen that during the three months of the election campaigning he never took any rest. He started and ended with the same zeal. In Andhra Pradesh we [BJP and TDP] had three public meetings and one big rally which made a huge difference in winning the [Assembly] elections.”
Naidu added that Amit Shah, who had attended one such meeting “changed the situation in a big way” and thanked him. Further, he added that the presence of Nitin Gadkari, Rajnath Singh and BJP national president JP Nadda at the campaigns “gave people the confidence that the Union government is with the state.”
Naidu also said that “Narendra Modi’s focused and dedicated approach has transformed India into a global power house. I have been in politics for four decades and seen so many leaders. I can give the entire credit to Modi for making India proud globally. That is his biggest achievement for the country. Under his leadership, India has become the fifth largest economy in the world.” Naidu was referring to the World GDP Ranking 2024 List that puts India in fifth place following the US, China, Germany and Japan. He also claimed that Modi would raise India to first or second place in the GDP rankings.
But Naidu also brought up the dynamics of the state versus Union governments. “We have to keep balancing regional interests. National interests should run parallelly, ensuring holistic development across all strata of society.” It may be noted that in May this year, in the midst of election campaigning, Naidu stood his ground on his stance that Muslims in Andhra would get 4% reservation in the Other Backward Classes (OBC) category and has continued to remain firm on this point. At the time, Modi had categorically stated that he would not give Muslims reservation based on religion, leading to initial confusion among voters and the NDA’s other ally in the state, the Jana Sena. It appears that Naidu intends to carry out his Muslim reservation promise which had been a significant aspect of the TDP’s election manifesto.