Naidu to meet Rahul in Delhi over 3rd front

■ Mr Naidu will be travelling to Delhi and is scheduled to meet representatives of various political parties, including Mr Gandhi. It is expected that a major announcement will be made after the meeting.

In a significant development, TD chief and AP Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu who has begun efforts to sew an anti-BJP front at the national level, will be meeting AICC president Rahul Gandhi in New Delhi on Thursday.

Mr Naidu will be travelling to Delhi and is scheduled to meet representatives of various political parties, including Mr Gandhi. It is expected that a major announcement will be made after the meeting.

In a party meeting on Wednesday evening, Mr Naidu said, “It’s a democratic compulsion to unite all like-minded parties against the BJP at the national level. In that endeavour I have met many leaders and I will be meeting some more, including Rahul Gandhi. There is a need to save the nation and democracy.”

It is learnt that while in New Delhi, Mr Naidu may unveil a plan of action ‘Save the Nation’ aimed at uniting all anti-BJP forces.

The meeting between Mr Naidu and Mr Gandhi assumes significance as it comes at a time the Opposition is struggling to take on the duo of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah.

Amidst pouring of support from various quarters at the national level to mr Naidu’s move, it’s being seen as an assertion and a bid to position himself as the mascot of the anti-BJP Front.

This will be Mr Naidu’s second visit to New Delhi in a week. It is also learnt that from now on he will dedicate at least two days a week to national politics.

Sources close to Mr Naidu said that he would explain that the BJP top two are responsible for the crises that the country faces at present and the imperative need for an alternative nonBJP government at the Centre.

Incidentally, Mr Naidu had earlier met leaders like Mayawati, Arvind Kejriwal, Farooq Abdullah and Sharad Yadav. During this visit, he is expected to meet Mr Gandhi, Sharad Pawar, Akhilesh Yadav, Yashwant Sinha, Suravaram Sudhakar Reddy, Mr Abdullah and others on Thursday and