KCR should lead nation: Chandrababu Naidu

​Amaravati: AP Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Friday made it clear that he had no interest in leading the alliance of the regional parties which is in the making at national level and that he only wanted them to come together to end the misrule of the BJP at the Centre.

“There is an urgent need for the regional parties to come together against the BJP in the interest of the nation,” Naidu said at a news conference on the eve of Nava Nirmana Deeksha on Saturday.

Asserting that he was only a soldier protecting the interests of the people of his state, Naidu said he never expressed desire to lead an alliance of regional parties. “There are many powerful regional leaders. All of us should come together”, he said, adding: “Leaders like K Chandrasekhar Rao and Mamata Banerjee should join forces to lead the nation in the right direction.”

He came down heavily on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and said that he was the only leader who got absolute majority in general elections in the history but failed in providing good governance. “Demonetistion of high value currency notes had miserably failed, subjecting the common man to untold suffering as he could not withdraw his own money from his bank. Referring to special category status, he said that the Centre was trying to deny it, but it was a life and death issue for the state and pointed out that he would not rest until he achieved it.

When asked whether he would move the Supreme Court on the pending issues relating to the AP Reorganisation Act, he said that this option was always available for the state. Before moving the apex court, I am looking for a political solution.

“The solution lay in winning 25 out of 25 Lok Sabha seats in the state in the next elections and be in a position of strength to decide who should be the next prime minister of the country,” he said.  He clarified that he was not eyeing any position at the national level and that it had been his stand even when the party was strong at the centre twice in the past.  

Reacting to resignation of the YSRC MPs, he questioned why they had not persuaded the Lok Sabha Speaker to accept them. He pointed out that there was a conspiracy and hence the Speaker did not accept them. "The MPS knew that if their resignations are accepted, there will be byelections and they would have to bite dust as people know their politics of collusion with the BJP," he said.