New Delhi: Andhra Pradesh chief minister N. Chandrababu Naidu on Sunday met UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Congress president Rahul Gandhi for the second time in as many days. Mr Naidu has been camping in New Delhi for the past three days and meeting top Opposition leaders. Mr Naidu is believed to have told them to draw up strategy in the event the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance falls short of a majority and still stakes claim to forming the government.
After his Telugu Desam Party walked out of the NDA, Mr Naidu has been playing a pivotal role in forging Opposition unity against the BJP-led alliance. He also travelled to Lucknow, the Uttar Pradesh capital, to meet Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati. “It is a pleasure to welcome Hon’ble Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu Ji to Lucknow,” Mr Akhilesh Yadav tweeted after the 70-minute meeting. His meeting with Ms Maya-wati also lasted an hour.
It is learnt, meanwhile, that BSP supremo Mayawati is likely to meet Sonia and Rahul Gandhi in New Delhi on Monday to discuss strategy.
On Sunday, Mr Naidu also met Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar in New Delhi. After the meeting, Mr Pawar tweeted: “The campaigning of this Lok Sabha Election 2019 has ended and as we await the last phase of polling, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu paid me a visit to discuss the ongoing and future political scenario of our country.”
The TDP chief’s deliberations are part of his efforts to unite non-NDA parties and bring them together on one platform to stake their claim for the next government’s formation in case the NDA fails to get a clear majority. The TDP chief held several rounds of discussions with various Opposition leaders, including TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee, AAP convenor Arvind Kejriwal and CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury.
The Opposition parties are in the process of forming a plan if a possibility of staking claim for forming the government comes up after May 23. Congress president Rahul Gandhi has also held several meetings with senior leaders of his party, including former PM Manmohan Singh and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi. The Congress has already named three senior leaders to talk to other like-minded parties — Madhya Pradesh CM Kamal Nath, Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot and AICC treasurer Ahmed Patel.
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