Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu has ruled himself out of the prime ministerial race and said that any leader in the Opposition is as strong or better than Narendra Modi, in an interview with the Hindustan Times.
“Narendra Modi keeps asking who is the leader in the Opposition and I keep saying, every leader in the Opposition is as strong or better than Narendra Modi,’’ he said, according to Hindustan Times.
Naidu said, he was very clear that he did not aspire to become the prime minister and he will now focus his attention on his state which is still new.
The TDP leader said the PM's post was offered to him decades ago and that he had declined even then.
With a little over two weeks left for the Lok Sabha 2019 election results to be declared, the Opposition parties are in full gear for a post-poll alliance in a likely scenario where neither the BJP nor the Congress get a clear majority on their own.
Naidu on Wednesday, 8 May, met Congress President Rahul Gandhi at the latter’s residence in Delhi before heading out to West Bengal to attend public rallies in support of the ruling party in the state. The meeting comes days after Naidu announced that opposition parties will meet on 21 May to reach a consensus on the Prime Ministerial candidate.
‘Everything Under Modi Has Failed’
Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao has already started making moves, pitching for a non-BJP, non-Congress front, but Naidu said, this has worked only once in the past, during the United Front government in 1996, that too with the support of the Congress.
Naidu wasn't very encouraging of the Bahujan Samaj Party leader Mayawati’s aspirations of being the Prime Minister either, Hindustan Times reported.
While he refused to comment if West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was an ideal candidate for the PM’s post, he asserted that all the leaders on his side are better contenders than Modi.
Naidu slammed Modi for his personal attacks on leaders and said that never in the past have prime ministers attacked local leaders.
The TDP leader condemned Modi's jibe on Rajiv Gandhi as "Corrupt No 1," saying it is not in Indian culture to attack someone who has died.
"Modi’s performance is poor,” Naidu said, adding that everything under him has failed, including Balakot air strike, attack on the Opposition, the Gujarat model, and bringing up those who have died.
Further, Naidu took a dig at Modi's use of technology, especially social media and said he used it for personal gains and not for public consumption.
(With inputs from Hindustan Times.)
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)