Chandrababu Naidu shares dais with Modi

Mahabubnagar (Andhra Pradesh), April 22 (IANS) An air of camaraderie prevailed as the TDP chief N. Chandrababu Naidu shared dais with BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi at a public meeting here Tuesday.

It was after a gap of 10 years that a former Andhra Pradesh chief minister came together with the leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) returned to the National Democratic Alliance (NDA).

Though it was the third election meeting addressed by Modi in Telangana Tuesday, it was the first where the leaders of the two allies shared the dais.

Naidu, who had pulled out of NDA after the defeat in 2004 elections, has returned to the alliance by entering into an electoral understanding with the BJP both in Telangana and Seemandhra.

Naidu, who greeted Modi with a bouquet and a shawl, was about to occupy a chair in the second row when Modi pulled him closer and made him sit next to him.

Naidu responded by showering praise on Modi during his speech. "It's not looking like a public meeting. It looks like swearing in ceremony of Narendra Modi as the prime minister," he said amid loud cheers by the crowd.

The TDP chief said Modi had leadership qualities and hoped that he would develop India the way he transformed Gujarat.

"Narendra Modi will become the prime minister. Nobody can stop him. There is NDA wave sweeping through the country. The Congress is sure to bite the dust," he said and exuded confidence that the TDP-BJP combine will form governments in Telangana and Seemandhra.

Describing corruption as a caner for the society, Naidu hoped that Modi will control it. He alleged that the Congress destroyed the country in 10 years and that it was indulged in Rs.10 lakh crore corruption.