‘Will work together to defeat BJP’: Naidu meets Rahul, Pawar

Congress President Rahul Gandhi along with Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu addresses the media outside his residence at Tughlak Road in New Delhi, Thursday, Nov 1, 2018. (PTI Photo/Kamal Singh) 

 

Chandrababu Naidu, a former BJP ally, said he will meet non-BJP leaders and convince them about the need to fight collectively against the BJP.

 

New Delhi, November 1 (PTI) Opposition parties will work together to defeat the Bharatiya Janata Party, Congress president Rahul Gandhi said on Thursday in the presence of Telugu Desam Party leader and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu.

 

The parties will work to ensure that the attack on democratic institutions stops, Gandhi said after meeting Naidu, who is trying to unite opposition parties to take on the saffron party in the Lok Sabha elections next year.

 

Gandhi said opposition parties will work together on most important issues, including unemployment and 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 very aggressively. Nation wants to know this,” the Congress president said.

 

Naidu said he was in discussion with all political parties.

 

“We will meet on a common platform and chalk out strategies,” he said.

 

Responding to a question, he said, “You are interested in candidates, we are interested in the nation.”

 

Naidu’s meeting with Gandhi comes amid seat-sharing talks between the two parties for the December 7 Assembly elections in Telangana.

 

Earlier in the day, Naidu met Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar and National Conference president Farooq Abdullah.

 

Pawar said that non-BJP parties will come out with a common minimum programme to take on the government, while expressing concern over “assault” on institutions like the Central Bureau of Investigation and the Reserve Bank of India.

 

He said Naidu will take the initiative and talk to other non-BJP parties on the matter.

 

“If we collectively work to save democracy, we can definitely save the institutions. Chandrababu (Naidu) will talk to other state political leaders in this regard,” the NCP chief told reporters.

 

Alleging that the situation in the country seems to be “deteriorating” day by day as there is “assault” on institutions like the CBI and the RBI, he said there is a need to work for the common cause of “saving the country and democracy”.

 

It was Naidu’s suggestion that all non-BJP parties should meet, discuss the current situation in the country and take some steps, he added.

 

Voicing concern over the “difficult” times the country is going through, Abdullah said, “Today, democracy is in danger and people are in danger. That is why we all met and decided to work out a common minimum programme to save democracy, institutions and the nation.”

 

Naidu, a former BJP ally who quit the NDA early this year over the Centre’s refusal to grant special status to Andhra Pradesh, said he will meet non-BJP political leaders and convince them about the need to fight collectively against the BJP.

 

Earlier, Naidu “coincidentally” also met senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi and briefly discussed about the need to bring all non-BJP parties together, TDP sources said.

 

This is the Andhra Pradesh chief minister’s second visit to New Delhi in less than a week.

 

Last week, Naidu had met Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati, Farooq Abdullah and former Bharatiya Janata Party leader Yashwant Sinha in the national capital.

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