Collective Leadership Need Of The Hour, Says Chandrababu Naidu

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu said "collective leadership" is the need of the hour for the mahagathbandhan (grand alliance) of opposition parties, adding the name of the leader for the prime minister's post would be declared after the Lok Sabha elections.

Mr Naidu, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) president, said that be it West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee or NCP chief Sharad Pawar, nobody is working single-handedly but functioning together.

He came down heavily on his Telangana counterpart K Chandrasekhar Rao for skipping the Trinamool Congress's (TMC) mega opposition rally in Kolkata on January 19, and described his absence from the event as "drama".

The absence of the BJD and Left parties at the Brigade Parade Ground national unity rally, which was participated by nearly two dozen opposition leaders, had also set tongues wagging.

Mr Naidu also made a scathing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and dubbed him as a "publicity-seeking prime minister, who only raises slogans and never performs". "There is a need of a collective leadership. Politics is for serving people. It is through politics we will form the next government. Only post elections, we will announce the name of the leader," Mr Naidu said.

The remarks came in response to a question about the possible name from the proposed coalition of the opposition parties for the prime minister's post.

"Nobody is working single-handedly. Not Mamata Banerjee, not Sharad Pawar, we are all together. Their commitment level to save India is very high. It was clear during the rally in Kolkata. We all are working together, forgetting our differences," Mr Naidu said.

"Didi (Mamata) had invited him (KCR), but he chose to skip the rally. It indicates that you are up to some drama. There are differences among political parties. (Arvind) Kejriwal has differences with the Congress, even Akhilesh (Yadav) and Mayawati joined hands in UP. It is time to come together for the sake of saving the nation," he said.