Chandrababu Naidu may enlist Cong in his AP 'Dharma Yudh'

New Delhi: After the bitter falling out with the BJP, Telugu Desam Party supremo and Andhra Pradesh chief minister N. Chandrababu Naidu is expected to reach out to the Congress Party and is likely to meet Mallikarjun Kharge, the party’s Leader of the House in Lok Sabha, during his two-day visit to the capital early next week.

Mr Naidu’s interactions with Congress leaders are likely be limited to discussing what he has termed as his “Dharma Yudh” for the people of Andhra Pradesh and the issue of the no-confidence motion the TDP has moved against the BJP in Lok Sabha.

Talk of any election strategy is unlikely at the moment as anti-Congress sentiment in Andhra Pradesh is too strong, and the TDP chief has anyway evinced interest in the formation of a non-Congress, non-BJP Federal Front.

The Congress has supported the TDP’s no-confidence motion against the BJP government in Lok Sabha, hence Mr Naidu will meet Mr Kharge, who, apart from being the Leader of the Congress in Lok Sabha, has been the chief strategist as far as floor management for the no-confidence motion was concerned, a senior TDP leader told this newspaper. The Opposition will try to push for a debate on the no-confidence motion on April 2-3.

Congress president Rahul Gandhi has supported the demand for special category status for Andhra Pradesh, an issue over which the TDP’s two ministers resigned from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Cabinet in the first week of March, and soon after the party quit the National Democratic Alliance. In fact, the political resolution adopted by the Congress at the party’s plenary session mentioned that the party would accord special category status to Andhra Pradesh if voted to power at the Centre.

The people of Andhra Pradesh blame the Congress for the “unscientific” division of the state and the resultant economic problems it is struggling with.

Mr Naidu has evinced interest in the formation of a non-Congress, non-BJP Federal Front and has been in touch with other regional leaders, including Trinamul Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee.

It is expected that apart from the Congress, Mr Naidu will meet a wide range of political leadership from parties like the TMC, the NCP, the RJD and the DMK.

Though the Andhra chief minister announced his decision to visit the capital to raise “state issues” on the floor of the Assembly, the dates might be tinkered with. Sources said he is likely to be in the capital around April 2-3 when there were chances of the no-confidence motion being taken up for a debate.

TDP sources said that the chief minister was unlikely to meet any BJP leader after the bitter parting with the NDA. While the TDP has blamed the BJP for not acceding to the demand for special category status to Andhra Pradesh as promised by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP president Amit Shah retaliated in an open letter saying his party’s decision to quit the NDA alliance at the Centre was unfortunate and unilateral.

Mr Naidu’s Delhi visit comes close on the heels of the capital sojourn of West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee last week, who was one of the first people to talk of the need for a non-Congress Federal Front to take on the BJP in 2019.

Ms Banerjee has said that she is in touch with parties like the TDP, the Telengana Rashtra Samiti and the DMK.