Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu says his Telugu Desam Party will play a pivotal role in 2019 when regional parties band together to form government at the Centre but has ruled himself out of the prime ministerial race.
The TDP chief, who sidestepped a question on whether the parties would take the support of the Congress should the need arise, was also scathing in his criticism of the BJP during an interaction with journalists late last night.
Describing the BJP as a "back door party" that wanted to enter south India through unscrupulous means, Naidu said it should have helped Andhra Pradesh to gain access to the region.
"The BJP is only a back door party. It has a remote with which it controls its puppets," Naidu told a group of reporters at the conclusion of Mahanadu, the annual conclave of the TDP.
He was responding to a question on whether the BJP had become the TDP's primary rival.
"The BJP declared that Karnataka is the gateway to South India. It is a bad statement. Now you want to enter through the back door. They should have realized it... They should have supported Andhra Pradesh," Naidu said.
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The TDP chief -- who formally quit the BJP-led NDA earlier this year over special category to the state -- said his party would play a decisive role in the formation of a government in New Delhi in 2019 but he himself had no prime ministerial ambitions.
"I do not have any prime ministerial ambitions. This post was offered to me twice in the past," he said, referring to 1996 when H D Deve Gowda became prime minister and 1997 when I K Gujral took the chair.
"I just want to develop Andhra," Naidu asserted.
Suggesting that he would keep his cards close to his chest till the Lok Sabha elections, he said when asked if regional parties would seek the support of the Congress should the need arise, "All these things are a matter of time. Right now, I do not want to create any confusion."
About BJP chief Amit Shah alleging that the Andhra government had furnished "false" utilization certificates for the funds the Centre had sanctioned for Amravati, the proposed ultra-modern capital of the state, Naidu said, "Shah is just the president of a party. In what capacity is he questioning us?
"The entire House accepted it. Why are you denying it now?" he asked
"We struggled for 60 years to put Hyderabad on the world map and all of a sudden, they asked us to go... We came here debt-ridden, without assets and money. Is it not the Centre's responsibility to give us a fair deal?"
Asked about the resettlement of those affected by the Polavaram project, the chief minister said, "The rehabilitation work has been completed to a certain extent. As and when the Centre gives the money, we will complete the remaining work."
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