New Delhi, May 8: Amid speculations of him being the prime contender from South India to oust Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief N Chandrababu Naidu has opted himself out of the prime ministerial race. The Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister said he is ready to back any Opposition leader who will replace Modi as the PM.

BSP supremo Mayawati, his Samajwadi Party counterpart Akhilesh Yadav and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee are all worthy PM contenders, Naidu said. "All of them are better than Modi. Every leader in the Opposition is better than him," he told reporters on Tuesday. Opposition Parties Plan Unusual Post-Poll Reachout to President on May 23

Naidu said the prime reason behind opting himself out of the PM race is to concentrate on Andhra Pradesh, which is still a relatively new state following the separation of Telangana.

The TDP president's exit from the list of PM aspirants comes days after he was endorsed by NCP chief Sharad Pawar and JD(S) patriarch Deve Gowda as those among the top contenders for the next Prime Minister.

Naidu, however, said his focus has remained Andhra, while striving towards the formation of a democratic and secular government at the Centre. In 1996, he was offered the PM post twice, recalled Naidu.

Before Deve Gowda and IK Gujral, the United Front had pitched him for leading the coalition government. Naidu was then the convenor of the United Front, and had instead pitched for Jyoti Basu to lead the country as the PM. The CPI(M) had turned down his proposal.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 08, 2019 09:47 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).