After pitching in for early Assembly polls to cash in on the mass sympathy generated by the Naxalite attempt on his life and escape the anti-incumbency factor at work against the NDA Government, the perception of Andhra Pradesh CM N. Chandrababu Naidu has undergone a sea change. The reason is the BJP victory in three Assembly polls and a perceived upswing in popular support for the A.B. Vajpayee Government.As he met reporters today, Naidu vowed to hold the status quo: A tie-up with BJP, outside support to the NDA Government and no Third Front. And, Sonia Gandhi’s foreign origin is certainly an issue for the TDP.Naidu said he had been ‘‘supporting the Vajpayee Government without creating problems for it. The status quo will continue’’. Regarding efforts by some Opposition leaders to revive the Third Front, he said: ‘‘We have no such thinking on our mind.’’ He replied in the negative when asked if he foresaw any problem over his continuation as CM with no Assembly to pass the budget providing for government expenses beyond March 31.Asked if Sonia’s foreign origin was an issue, he said: ‘‘It is an issue. That’s why everybody is afraid of projecting her as PM.’’ He added, ‘‘In free India, we should not have a person of foreign origin leading us.’’
