TDP open to joining NDA govt post polls

TDP supremo and Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu yesterday appeared keeping his options open on joining the NDA government in case it was voted back to power in the Lok Sabha elections. "Right now, it is a status quo," he said in an interaction with journalists here.

When reporters repeatedly questioned him on this, he said "it is not an issue now. Let us fight the elections first", adding why journalists were hun upon this issue.

Exuding confidence that Telugu Desam would return to power in the assembly elections whether these would synchronise with Lok Sabha polls or not, he said that party was prepared for both the situations.

"On our performance, we will win. The NDA government's performance under Atal Behari Vajpayee's leadership is a complementary factor," said Naidu, who has already dissolved the state assembly and south early polls.

The chief minister said that his party had not joined that government earlier on the issue of secularism and the fear of incumbency attached to participating in power.

But now, even BJP was talking only of development and incumbency was not a factor in AP, he added.

Naidu said his government's performance in the last 100 months on power, roads, infrastructure, IT, welfare, literacy and farm spheres were there to see giving him the confidence that it would return to power easily.

He was confident that his party would touch the 200-mark in the 294-member House. From a literacy rate of 44 per cent in 1993, the state had achieved 73 per cent now and was confident of reaching the cent per cent mark by 2005.

The below poverty line(BPL) families were only 15 per cent, he said. The chief minister said there was no option for any government but to implement reforms and he took the credit for setting the agenda for development which was the mantra of all governments now.

The TDP supremo said that Congress president Sonia Gandhi's foreign origin would certainly be an issue in the coming elections. There was a discussion within the Congress on the leadership issue and some congressmen were even worried about using her photographs in the campaign material, Naidu said.

The country men should think whether it can hand over power to a person of foreign origin when its forefathers had fought and got freedom from foreign rule.