Regional parties will be king-makers in 2019, BJP coming back to power a distant dream: Andhra Pradesh CM Chandrababu Naidu

Vijayawada: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu said on Sunday that the regional parties would be king-makers in 2019. "In 2019, regional parties will rule. All regional parties are coming together to defeat BJP. In 2019, BJP will taste defeat. It gave false promise but could not deliver anything. Conspiracies are going on to create tension in the state. But we won`t let them happen," he said.

In 2019, the regional parties will be king-makers. All regional parties are coming together to defeat BJP. In upcoming Lok Sabha elections, BJP will taste defeat: N Chandrababu Naidu, CM of Andhra Pradesh. pic.twitter.com/sCAVflEaAO

— ANI (@ANI) May 27, 2018

Naidu also attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying he is a campaign PM who has failed to deliver on promises. Inaugurating Mahanadu, the TDP's annual conclave, he said the Telugu Desam Party played a key role in forming governments in the past and had the power to change the political narrative in the country. He added that the TDP was key in forming the United Front government in 1996. "The TDP has in the past played a key role in forming governments. It has the power to change the political narrative in the country. We won't step back," Naidu said.

On withdrawing support from the NDA government, he said that the Centre had reneged on its promise to grant Andhra Pradesh Special Category status and to implement the AP Reorganisation Act. Naidu accused the BJP of betraying the people of AP and trying to create law and order problems in the state in collusion with the YSRCP. 

The TDP had in March 2018 withdrawn support from the NDA government over the Centre's refusal to grant special category status to the state. 

Naidu's comments come days after a galaxy of opposition leaders and CMs attended HD Kumaraswamy oath-taking ceremony on May 23, 2018, in Karnataka. Congress president Rahul Gandhi, his mother and UPA chairperson Sonia, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Chandrababu Naidu, Arvind Kejriwal and Pinarayi Vijayan, her counterparts in Andhra Pradesh, Delhi and Kerala, CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury, Tejashwi Yadav, the Leader of Opposition in the Bihar Assembly, National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah, BSP chief Mayawati, Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav and Rashtriya Lok Dal leader Ajit Singh, were among those who attended the coronation of  Kumaraswamy, who is heading the  JD(S)-Congress coalition in the state, in a development that could plant a seed for a broad-based anti-BJP platform before the Lok Sabha polls in 2019.

(With ANI and PTI inputs)