After Rahul, AP CM meets Akhilesh, Mayawati in coalition-building effort

Lucknow: TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu Saturday met leaders of the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party here, continuing his efforts to put together a coalition to form the next government at the Centre. He reached the Uttar Pradesh capital in the evening after meetings in New Delhi with Congress president Rahul Gandhi, CPI leaders G Sudhakar Reddy and D Raja, Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar and Loktantrik Janata Dal leader Sharad Yadav.

The separate meetings with SP president Akhilesh Yadav and BSP chief Mayawati take place a day before polling in the last phase of elections. The SP, BSP and RLD are in alliance in UP, taking on the BJP in the politically crucial state that sends 80 MPs to Parliament. The Telugu Desam Party chief is pitching for an anti-BJP coalition to stake claim to form a government if the numbers permit.

Naidu drove straight from Lucknow's Chaudhary Charan Singh airport to the Samajwadi Party office. He was greeted with a bouquet by Akhilesh Yadav. The two leaders then went into a closed door meeting, SP sources said. Yadav tweeted pictures of the meeting. Later, Naidu drove to Mayawati's Mall Road Avenue residence.

Before their meeting, the two leaders exchanged bouquets and the TDP chief gifted her a box of mangoes. The Andhra Pradesh chief minister has already held several rounds of discussions with various opposition leaders, including Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee, Aam Aadmi Party convenor Arvind Kejriwal and CPI (M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury. His had been was a part of the BJP-led NDA but quit the alliance a few months ago.