Chandrababu Naidu regrets decision to quit NDA alliance, blames move for TDP's poor performance in Lok Sabha elections

Telugu Desam Party (TDP) supremo, Chandrababu Naidu reportedly regretted over his decision to quit the BJP-led NDA government, according to local media reports. The former chief minister of Andhra Pradesh openly admitted in a rally conducted by TPD members on Saturday that his decision to pull out of the Narendra Modi-led government in May last year lead to his party’s poor performance in the Assembly and Lok Sabha elections this year, reports Sunday Guardian. Addressing party workers during his two-day visit to Visakhapatnam for strengthening the party in the region, Naidu said that one of the reasons for TDP’s loss in the recently concluded Lok Sabha election was due to the party clashing with the Centre for the people of Andhra Pradesh. According to local news channel  ABN Andhrajyothy, Naidu said, “Only for the benefit of the state we differed with the Centre. But because of that, the TDP is at a loss now, while there were no gains for the state. Things would have been different if we had not created those differences. We need to ensure that we do not make such mistakes in the future. “We have pulled out of the BJP-led government on the issue of special category status for Andhra, but the decision has cost us dearly; not only did we lose economically because of subsequent non-cooperation from the Centre, but also politically as the TDP lost power and finished badly,” Naidu said. He had commissioned a series of surveys on the reasons for the poor electoral show of his party. In an  NTV Telugu News report, Naidu said, “I had tried hard for benefits to the state, not for personal benefits. What rivalry is there between me and Modi? For the people of Andhra, I differed. That was it. We will analyse every factor. It’s a continuous process. Based on this we will create an action plan for the future." Sources close to Naidu told Sunday Guardian that they didn’t rule out the chances of TDP again joining hands with the BJP in the months to come. Sources say that this may be one of the reasons why the TDP chief is keeping quiet even as several of his party leaders have made a beeline for the saffron party in the last few weeks, sources say. In March last year, TDP  decided to call off its four-year alliance  with them and pulled out of the Central government, over the issue of the 'Special Category Status' not being granted to Andhra Pradesh and other promises made at the time of bifurcation not being fulfilled. With inputs from agencies