Naidu all praise for Modi

New Delhi: In a rare comment on Prime Minister’s style of politics, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu said, “When the Prime Minister shares great ideas with his allies, not only will we work with him, but we will also strengthen them.”

Speaking at the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit in New Delhi on Saturday, Naidu said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has already planned for the next general election slated for 2029 and is working closely with the allies on a mission mode.

Replying to a question, Naidu said his approach was not to “influence” the Centre on decision making but to work in collaboration with it. He said PM Modi is a strong leader, modern and progressive in outlook.

The Chief Minister said in his earlier years as a politician, he primarily focused on governance and policies but realised that it was also necessary to reach out to the people more directly, something which he imbibed from Modi. “That is what Modi ji is doing,” he said.

On his recent stance about a population decline, Naidu said India, especially the Southern region, was heading towards it and warned this could have dangerous consequences. South India has an aging problem. India’s fertility rate in 1991 was 5.2 or 5.4. Now we are at 2.5. We are just on the borderline. If we go below 2.5, the population will not grow. That will be a great danger for humanity,” Naidu said.

“People may not like it immediately. But he said he wanted to promote population management. If you can manage the population, nobody can defeat India,” he added.

Naidu, known for his penchant for harnessing technologies in public policy, said his government was now working to usher in WhatsApp governance to reach the last mile. “We will need to use deep tech. Data is wealth. We must take a deep dive. AI can help us achieve real solutions in areas like agriculture, veterinary, and health,” he said.

The Chief Minister also referred to his illegal arrest and the menace of trolling on social media platforms especially against women. He said some people and political parties were using social media to post derogatory remarks and indulge in character assassination of women and there was a need to take stern action against such people.