New Delhi [India], August 22 : Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Friday said the Opposition cannot expect the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) to support any candidate other than the NDA's nominee in the Vice Presidential election.
Naidu's remarks came after Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convenor Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday urged political parties from Andhra Pradesh and Telangana to vote for B Sudarshan Reddy, the INDIA bloc candidate for the Vice Presidential elections, citing his Telugu identity as a matter of pride for people of both states.
Speaking to reporters in Delhi after meeting NDA Vice Presidential candidate CP Radhakrishnan, along with TDP MPs, Naidu said, "How can they (opposition) expect? We are in an alliance; how can it be expected that we will support another candidate? Telugu Desam Party is for the Telugu community. That is a different issue. We are in alliance. Our party has ethics and credibility. We have built this credibility over a period of five decades. You know my stand from the beginning, not now. "
The Chief Minister also praised Radhakrishnan, calling him "the best candidate" and added, "If anybody compares candidature-wise, he (CP Radhakrishnan) is the best candidate everybody has to support. If the majority is there, it is a very dignified post. Why did they (opposition) bring another candidate now? Is it necessary? That is their politics. But we are not playing politics here," he said.
CM Naidu also expressed confidence in Radhakrishnan's win in the VP elections. He said, "We are having the majority, we are going to win comfortably."
On being asked if the NDA high command ordered Naidu to come and meet Radhakrishnan today, CM Naidu replied, "It is my duty. I came to Delhi and I want to meet him. I want to extend my support...These relations are not from today; they are not new relations. I know him from the beginning."
Earlier in the day, speaking to the reporters, Andhra Pradesh CM expressed happiness over the NDA's selection of CP Radhakrishnan as the Vice Presidential candidate.
"We are very happy that NDA has selected CP Radhakrishnan as a candidate for the post of Vice President of India. He is the best suitable candidate. We are very happy to extend our support to him. TDP joined the NDA before the elections. Both governments in Delhi and Andhra Pradesh have an NDA government. Apart from that, he is a gentleman. He is also very patriotic. He is going to bring pride to our nation...We are together," CM Naidu said.
On being asked that the INDIA Bloc candidate B Sudarshan Reddy is Telugu and the CM being from TDP, should support him, the Chief Minister replied, "Telugu pride, all these things, it won't happen here. Even sometimes, we have supported even long back PV Narasimha Rao, a Telugu man as MP, he became PM, but we supported him as MP, that is a different issue. Here, we are an alliance, how can you expect that we can support other candidates...."
On Wednesday, CP Radhakrishnan filed his nomination papers for the Vice Presidential election in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Union Ministers Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh, Nitin Gadkari, JP Nadda, Kiren Rijiju, and Arjun Ram Meghwal were also present.
On Thursday, former Supreme Court Justice B Sudarshan Reddy filed his nomination in the presence of Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, Congress Parliamentary Party Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, and Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi.
The Election Commission had earlier announced that polling for the Vice Presidential election would take place on September 9, with counting to take place the same day.