Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu on Saturday asserted that the BJP-led NDA government faces defeat in the general election as the Opposition parties, small and big, stitch ‘formidable’ alliances among themselves and with the Congress, wherever possible, in various States.
“The BJP may downplay these developments of the last few days and use its usual rhetoric against such alliances but they are all set to pose a big challenge to the saffron party and take it by surprise,” he said in a midnight interview. “Look at Andhra Pradesh, our strong campaign has ensured that the BJP is nowhere in the scene in the State,” he asserted.
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Regional parties reflect the diversity of the country and represent the feelings and aspirations of people in a particular State, he said. These sentiments needed to be respected and dovetailed to building a national mood to throw out a regime that had brought all institutions — whether it was the CBI, the ED, the RBI or the Income Tax Department — to a state of collapse, he said.
Alleging that the government was misusing all Central agencies against political adversaries, he said the latest addition was the Election Commission of India.
It was, therefore, crucial that all non-BJP parties come together on the plank of saving the nation at this critical juncture, Mr. Naidu said. “The Congress and all Opposition parties are conscious of this fact, and hence a big coalition of like-minded political parties is the need of the hour and is eminently possible.”
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Mr. Naidu said that even as he strove hard to put Andhra Pradesh on a fast-track development path, he was facing challenges from the Centre, neighbouring Telangana and the Opposition party in the State, YSRCP.