Naidu, Modi join hands

TDP supremo N Chandrababu Naidu shared platform with BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, signalling his drawing closer to the saffron camp.

If that was not enough, Naidu said of Narendra Modi, “Modiji belongs to Gujarat. Gandhiji belongs to Gujarat.”

Both addressed Manthan, the youth movement to set the agenda for the General Election in 2014 at the Tyagaraj Sports Complex in the capital. Naidu delivered the keynote speech. Before the meeting began, Naidu reportedly had a closed door with Modi for about half-an-hour. Both stayed in the same hotel.

Praising Modi, Naidu said, “After 2004, people are talking about Gujarat. There is a total shift in favour of Gujarat, like it was for Hyderabad before.” Their appearance together on a common platform was seen as an indication that Naidu has put behind his reservations on being seen on the same side as Modi.

Naidu described the recent controversy over the Ordinance to protect convicted lawmakers from disqualification as a drama. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was a tool in the hands of Congress president Sonia Gandhi, he said. The TDP chief said, “We deserve a better future. India is a great nation.

During the Congress-dominated era in the initial decades, the average national growth rate averaged around 3 to 4 per cent. P V Narasimha Rao brought in economic reforms, but it was not because of conviction but because of the economic compulsions. During the Vajpayee Government, there was spurt in the growth rate.

At that time, as the then Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister, he said he had brought out Vision 2020 document for the first time. Naidu claimed credit for creating world-class infrastructure -- the Shamshabad Airport is rated among the top five airports in the country.

The Convention Centre is considered the best in the country. On the outer ring-road, 164 km six-lane road was built.

Naidu focussed on the capacity of India to get over the present crisis and step into more prosperous times. Stressing on administrative reforms, he wanted technology in governance, transparency leading to corruption-free administration and accountability and decentralisation leading to timely decisions.

According to TDP sources, Chandrababu Naidu calculates that gains from an alliance with the Narendra Modi-led BJP will more than offset the hit he is likely to take in his votebase. The tie-up between the Congress and the Telangana Rashtra Samithi in the Telangana region and the growing clout of the Jaganmohan Reddy-led YSRCP in the Seemandhra region, has dictated his move to rethink on his electoral strategy.

Addressing the gathering, Modi said the UPA government at the Centre was out of sync with the pulse of the nation. He claimed that the ordinance to shield convicted politicians was only brought in because the government had no notion of the sentiments of people. "The government sitting in Delhi does not know the pulse of the nation, or they would not have brought an ordinance to shield convicted politicians," Modi said at an event here.

"No one wants to vote for criminals. The Prime Minister was also insulted in such a way that he lost his confidence to talk in the US," Modi said. He said the nation wanted clean politics, and a government free of corruption. An ordinance to shield convicted lawmakers approved by the union cabinet was withdrawn Wednesday. Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi had earlier publicly opposed the passage of the ordinance.