Telugu Desam Party leader Nara Lokesh on Friday attributed the NDA’s stellar performance in the Andhra Pradesh assembly and Lok Sabha polls to “teamwork”. The TDP won 16 Lok Sabha and 135 seats in Andhra and has emerged as a key player in the National Democratic Alliance that is set to form the government again at the Centre as well as in the state.
Lokesh, the son of TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu, said in an exclusive interview with CNN-News18 that his party’s support to Narendra Modi is “unconditional”. Edited excerpts:
Were you expecting this kind of a win in the Lok Sabha and assembly polls? What would you attribute this victory to?
It was a teamwork that we did. We won 164 out of 175 Assembly seats in Andhra Pradesh. I did 3,132 padyatras where I got a chance to meet people from all walks of life. There was a lot of hatred and resentment against the government. Apart from inefficiency and complacency, people didn’t like the arrogance with which they were being governed. One of the major reasons for their loss is arrogance. No government should be arrogant. It should be approachable. It should be the people’s government, a government led by the people. That is the approach with which NDA in Andhra is forming the government.
Six months ago, it was a difficult time. Your father was arrested and the party was on shaky grounds. What gave you hope that you will turn it around and what gave you hope that people will vote for you the way they have?
TDP is never on shaky ground and that is because of our strong cadre base. We always bounce back stronger and that’s been our history. When Mr Naidu was arrested, people across 100 countries stood in solidarity with him. In Hyderabad, IT professionals held a gratitude concert, and close to 45,000 IT professionals joined. That is the strength we have. That is what has remained. So, I never had any doubt, about TDP forming the government, even before or after Mr Naidu’s arrest or during my padyatras.
CBN is the architect of modern-day Hyderabad. He brought in Cyberabad. First politician to have almost a CEO-type approach for governance. Can we see the same vision and approach for Amaravati? Will Mr Modi and Mr Naidu be on the same page for this? What should we expect?
Mr Naidu was invited by Mr Modi to attend the ‘vision for India summit’, where they spoke about Viksit Bharat. Why can’t India be a developed country after 100 years of its independence? Hyderabad is an example where we created massive economic activity. Back then, circumstances were different. It was all about one city. No one knew Hyderabad internationally. Now we have a golden opportunity. Andhra is a big state, different districts can have different thrust areas. If you look at five years of TDP government, Anantpur, which is one of the most backward districts of India, got Kia Motors to invest in, Chittoor district, one of the most dry districts, we got electronics manufacturing cluster there. So, we took each district and thought why can’t we create a micro-ecosystem across a theme like automotive, electronics, pharma, defence, IT in Vizag, capital city Amaravati. We took a thematic approach. Unfortunately, we lost power then and all those thoughts scuttled.
Our agenda is development, and we will start all the work that stopped.
The first promise in our manifesto is to create 20 lakh jobs in five years and that means we have to create a robust economy in AP. In the past, the way we worked with Vajpayee ji, we look forward to working with Modi ji to make India strong.
What are your demands?
All speculation. TDP’s support to Vajpayee ji and now Modi ji is unconditional. We continue to extend our support to NDA unconditionally. We believe that the nation needs a strong leadership. A leadership that has vision, a leadership that can make India a developed nation. We believe in Narendra Modi ji. No second thoughts about it. We have never asked for anything. We have never asked for ministries. Yes, we will ask for funds, performance-linked incentives to promote industries. That is how AP developed. We will need the Centre’s help there.
What about special status?
Just to set the context, the bifurcation of the state was against the wishes of the majority of the state. The single reason was that 62 years were spent in the development of Hyderabad. All investments went there. There were certain commitments made to us in the bifurcation bill on which we continued to fight. Special status is one such commitment. Special status was given to AP because it’s mainly an agrarian economy. We now look forward to creating 20 lakh jobs. Andhra has the longest coastline, which can create a lot of work. Our agenda is clear.
And how would you address any differences?
We will discuss this across the table. The kind of relationship we had with Vajpayee ji was golden and we look forward to this. We don’t want to fight. We want solutions.
Would you want a state role or a central role for you?
I have lots of agenda. I have a lot of work to do. I look forward to working in the state and contributing to building a strong nation.
How has the journey been, from Stanford to being a politician?
It’s been incredible. Stanford taught me how to manage business, but padyatras taught me about Andhra, about Bharat. It’s been a phenomenal experience. An eye-opener.
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