Naidu shared dais with Modi, hints at joining NDA

In a significant political development, Telugu Desam Party president N Chandrababu Naidu shared dais with BJP prime ministerial candidate and Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi at the culmination convention of Manthan organised by Citizens for Accountable Governance here on Wednesday.

Addressing the convention, Naidu gave several hints that he might sail with the National Democratic Alliance during 2014 General Elections. Praising the Atal Bihari Vajpayee led NDA-Government between 1996 and 2004, he said that the present UPA Government brought the governance to its knees with corruption, inefficiency and policy paralysis. He said that the Congress should be defeated to save the country.

Naidu said that the growth rate was just around 4 per cent in 1991. The TDP-backed United Front and NDA Government took initiatives for the speedy economic growth. Accusing the Congress party of misusing the global economic boom of 2004, he said that the growth rate should be back to 2004 after 2014 elections.

Speaking about the ordinance on convicted parliamentarians, Naidu said that the Congress party was enacting a political drama on the issue. "We saw the drama around the Ordinance on convicted lawmakers. They brought the Ordinance, then Rahul Gandhi spoke against it," he said. "He (Rahul Gandhi) criticises the Prime Minister when he is away but we all know Manmohan Singh is a puppet in the hands of Sonia Gandhi. Rahul was well aware of the Ordinance," said Naidu.

The TDP chief also praised Narendra Modi. "When I was in power, people talked about Hyderabad. Now everyone talks only about development in Gujarat," he said.