VIJAYAWADA: Praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi for building consensus at the national level in taking the fight against coronavirus forward, TDP supremo N Chandrababu Naidu on Tuesday said that the Prime Minister has taken a bold decision by extending the lockdown, giving priority to saving the lives of people despite the impending economic crisis in the country.The TDP chief said Modi had sought (Naidu’s) his suggestions before taking the decision.

Naidu said Modi dialled him on Tuesday morning in reply to his call on Monday night and discussed the way forward in the fight against COVID-19.“I told Modi that under his efficient leadership, right decision was made on lockdown-1, which helped India stand in the forefront of the battle against the virus. Many other countries are facing problems. You (Modi) are building national consensus in the right spirit. Now testing should be increased and people should be prepared for future struggle,” the Leader of the Opposition said.

Addressing a virtual press conference on Tuesday, Naidu said, “Had Modi not announced lockdown, India’s positive cases would have gone up to 8 lakh as against the present 10,500 reported from all over the country.’’