Naidu meets Rahul, drums up grand alliance support

TDP chief says he is in discussions with all opposition parties to come together

NEWDELHI:ANDHRA Pradesh chief minister and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief N Chandrababu Naidu met Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Thursday in Delhi and discussed the shape of a grand alliance against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the 2019 general elections.

“I had a good meeting today with Shri Chandrababu Naidu. Amongst other things, we discussed the issue of opposition unity. I look forward to carrying forward our dialogue and to working together in the upcoming state and general elections,” Gandhi said.

“Opposition parties will work together to defeat the BJP. The parties will work to ensure that the attack on democratic institutions stops,” Gandhi told reporters after his meeting with Naidu.

The TDP chief said he was in discussion with all the political parties to come together to fight the 2019 elections. “We will meet on a common platform and chalk out strategies.”

Responding to a question on the leadership of a grand alliance, and whether the other paraadmi ties would accept Gandhi as the alliance’s leader, Naidu said, “You are interested in candidates, we are interested in the nation. It is a reality you have to understand that Congress is a main opposition party. (But) all other parties are (also) necessary. Our main motive is save the nation.”

Asked who will lead the Opposition, Gandhi said, “We have agreed that the principle idea here is to defeat the BJP and to defend democracy. All other ideas will be discussed later.” Naidu, a key member of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) till March this year, parted ways with the BJP over the demand for special category status to Andhra Pradesh.

In the past few days, Naidu has stepped up his efforts to unite opposition parties.

Earlier in the day, he met Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar and National Conference president Farooq Abdullah in Delhi.

This is his second visit to New Delhi in less than a week.

During a previous visit on October 27, he met Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati, Delhi chief minister and Aam Party (AAP) leader Arvind Kejriwal, Loktantrik Janata Dal leader Sharad Yadav, former finance minister Yashwant Sinha and Communist Party of India (CPI) leaders D Raja and S Sudhakar Reddy.

Once bitter rivals in erstwhile undivided Andhra Pradesh, the TDP and Congress have joined hands in Telangana along with the Telangana Jana Samithi (TJS) and the Communist Party of India (CPI) to take on the Telangana Rashtra Samithi. The seat-sharing deal between the two parties in Telangana might also give a fillip to the possibility of a tie-up in Andhra Pradesh.

“We have had a past. Both of us agreed that we are not going to get into the past,” Gandhi said.

After their meeting, Gandhi said opposition parties will work together on important issues, including unemployment and alleged corruption in the Rafale fighter jet deal. “It is very clear that corruption is taking place. Institutions that can investigate are being attacked... A proper inquiry on what all happened, where the money went and who did corruption... that is what I am pushing aggressively. Nation wants to know this,” he said.

According to political analyst and author Sriram Karri, Naidu’s efforts to build up a national alternative is part of his strategy to have a back up plan to remain in the political limelight in the event of a setback in Andhra assembly elections.

“His plan of joining the grand alliance in Telangana is also part of the same strategy. If the alliance wins Telangana polls, it will help Naidu neutralise the impact of YSRC in Andhra and also boost up his image at the national level. For Rahul, Naidu is the best bet to bring all likeminded forces together because of his friendly relations with them in the past,” Karri said.

Naidu also met senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad at the Indira Gandhi international airport and discussed the need to bring all the non-bjp political parties together. TDP leaders said Naidu will visit Delhi every week to speed up the process of bringing together all opposition parties.

Abdullah later told reporters at Pawar’s residence that the ruling BJP has been attacking Constitutional institutions and “democracy is in danger” in its rule.