Naidu meets Oppn leaders, thanks them for backing no-trust motion
NEWDELHI: Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu met Opposition leaders in New Delhi on Tuesday and thanked them for extending support to the Telugu Desam Party’s no-confidence motion against the central government, people familiar with the matter said.
On his first visit to the national capital after walking out of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), Naidu primarily discussed issues related to his home state but also told Trinamool Congress leaders that he will keep in touch with West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, two leaders who met him said.
“We will continue to work together,” Naidu said to Opposition leaders, indicating his willingness to keep the door open for a possible alliance to take on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
“Today my priority is my state. We quit NDA because the government was ignoring our demands. This is injustice,” Naidu, who bowed and touched the stairs of the parliament complex before entering the building, said.
While he held a meeting with his party MPS and asked them to continue their struggle to win “justice for Andhra”, Naidu also met leaders from the Congress, Nationalist Congress Party, (NCP), National Conference, TMC, Telangana Rashtra Samiti and Communist Part of India(marxist) D Raja and.
CPI(M)’S Mohammad Salim said during the meeting, Naidu discussed the issue of special status for Andhra Pradesh. “We discussed the issue of a special status for Andhra Pradesh. We also questioned the trustworthiness of the Prime Minister ,” he said.
“Naidu thanked the Trinamool Congress for its strong support to the no-confidence motion notice brought in by the TDP,” TMC parliamentarian Derek O’brien said.
The Andhra chief minister also met leaders of parties aligned with the NDA, including Shiromani Akali Dal’s Harsimrat Kaur Badal and Apna Dal’s Anupriya Patel. He also held talks with Hema Malini and Jayant Sinha of the BJP.