Joined NDA unconditionally, will continue in it: Lokesh

Vijayawada : TDP national general secretary Nara Lokesh on Friday reaffirmed the party’s commitment to the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and Narendra Modi’s leadership, saying that the party joined NDA unconditionally before elections and would therefore continue to be in the NDA “unconditionally”.

In an interview to PTI at TDP supremo N Chandrababu Naidu’s residence in Undavalli, Lokesh vouched for the leadership of Modi. “We joined NDA unconditionally before elections; we will continue to be in NDA unconditionally... We believe that he (Modi) should be the Prime Minister of India and there is no second thought about it,” said Lokesh.

However, he reasoned that the relationship should be symbiotic and if some opportunity of investment is coming up, “We would like Andhra to get it and we need the Central government’s push for it.” “We will definitely ask for it. It is about building a symbiotic relationship, representing the state’s interests, every state’s interest,” Lokesh asserted.

According to the TDP leader, there would be 100 things such as Agniveer, Uniform Civil Code, reservations, allocation of budgets, development and others which could be negotiated across a table.

Reacting to a question on reservations for Muslims in Andhra Pradesh, he said the TDP doesn’t know caste, creed or religion, and only represents the interests of the Telugu people.

“TDP has been clear from day one. TDP represents the interests of Telugu people. We don’t know caste, creed and religion. We stand only for Telugu people. We believe that the Telugu state should be a strong state,” he noted.

Further, he emphasised that Amaravati is the capital city of Andhra Pradesh, with the concept of one state, one capital, but highlighted that decentralised development will be done.