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TDP is part of NDA, asserts Chandrababu Naidu

Amaravati: TDP supremo N Chandrababu Naidu on Wednesday said his party is in NDA and that he will be attending the National Democratic Alliance meeting to be held in New Delhi later in the day.

NDA constituent Janasena party chief Pawan Kalyan will also be attending the NDA meeting at the national capital, a day after the alliance emerged victorious in Assembly and Lok Sabha polls in Andhra Pradesh. "We are in NDA. I am going for an NDA meeting. In the course of time, if there is anything we will report to you," Naidu said in a press conference when asked about his Delhi visit.

Janasena sources told PTI that Kalyan also left for the national capital to attend the NDA meeting.

Senior leaders of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance are meeting in New Delhi on Wednesday to take stock of the Lok Sabha poll results and deliberate on the details of government formation.

The TDP and Janasena, which won 16 and two Lok Sabha seats respectively from Andhra Pradesh, will play a crucial role in government formation at the Centre. The BJP won three seats in the state. In total, NDA netted a kitty of 21 Lok Sabha seats from the southern state.

In the Assembly polls, the TDP got 135 seats, Janasena - 21 and BJP - 8. The YSRCP got 11 seats.

Naidu said Andhra Pradesh has suffered a lot during the past five years, alleging that it underwent "destruction" worth 30 years and his job is to set things right. He alleged that the "destruction" was so immense, even as systems were destroyed and the economy collapsed in the state. He further said nobody is permanent in politics and there will be ups and downs.

"The country is permanent, democracy is permanent, political parties are permanent, but power is not permanent," he said.

In a veiled reference to the YSR Congress party, Naidu said political parties will also vanish if they are not straight forward. He noted that the reign of YSRCP chief Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy is a case study for all, which "demonstrates how a ruler should not be".

"People will not forgive arrogance, dictatorship, recklessness and the drive to just do anything and it has been proved. People proved that this moral lesson will happen to any destructionist who goes about with corruption and arrogance," Naidu observed.

According to Naidu, NDA's vote share in Andhra Pradesh was 55.38 per cent while the TDP alone got 45.6 per cent. He also pointed out that YSRCP's vote share was 39.3 per cent.