Chandrababu says BJP cannot rake up its pet issues Saturday, February 21 2004 16:51 Hrs (IST) Hyderabad:
The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) supremo and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu says Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) cannot rake up its pet issues like Ayodhya and only the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) agenda will be implemented if the alliance comes back to power.
Ahead of the Lok Sabha and State Assembly elections, he also does not want to open his cards on whether his party will join an NDA Government at the Centre which, he said, was sure to return to power for another term.
As his party prepared to convert Hyderabad into a "sea of yellow" for a massive rally tomorrow, Naidu spoke on a wide range of subjects in an hour-long interview in which he said development is his agenda that will have no place for emotional issues. The future Government should speed up reforms in various sectors including labour, aviation and Foreign Direct Investment (FDI).
A strong opponent of a person of foreign origin occupying Prime Minister's post, the 54-year-old leader would not engage himself in issues like whether even children of parents of foreign origin should be barred from the top posts.
"TDP is very clear on secularism. In the last five years, we have stuck to our secular identity and ideology. We strongly believe that unless secularism is followed, this country cannot develop. If we want to take the country forward together, then secularism cannot be given up," Naidu said.
He said even BJP knew the reality that it would be a coalition Government based on NDA agenda. However, he refused to comment on BJP's claims that it was looking for a majority on its own.
PTI
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