TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu held a flurry of meetings with opposition leaders, including Congress president Rahul Gandhi, BSP’s Mayawati and SP leader Akhilesh Yadav, in an apparent bid to rally support for a non-BJP government at the Centre.
Naidu, who arrived in the national capital on Friday, alsomet Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar, Loktantrik Janata Dal leaderSharad Yadav and leaders of the Communist Party of India.
He then flew to Lucknow and met Samajwadi Party and BahujanSamaj Party chiefs.
“It is a pleasure to welcome Hon’ble Chief MinisterShri N Chandrababu Naidu Ji to Lucknow,” Akhilesh Yadav tweeted.
The Andhra Pradesh chief minister did not speak to the mediaafter any of his meetings.
Sources, however, said Naidu and Gandhi discussed thepossibility of forming a joint alliance of all opposition parties.
He told Gandhi to have a strategy ready, in case the NDAfalls short of a majority and still stakes claim to form the government, thesources said.
Naidu told all the leaders that “we all should cometogether and put our act together” to form the next government by keepingthe BJP out, a source said.
Later, Gandhi, former prime minister Manmohan Singh andother Congress leaders met at UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi’s residence toevolve their party’s strategy.
“The campaigning of this Lok Sabha Election 2019 hasended and as we await the last phase of polling, Andhra Pradesh CM Shri NChandrababu Naidu paid me a visit to discuss the ongoing and future politicalscenario of our country,” Pawar said in a tweet after the meeting at hisresidence.
Naidu met CPI leader G Sudhakar Reddy and D Raja overbreakfast, asking them to “come together”.
Reddy and Raja separately met Pawar at his residence.
The Telugu Desam Party chief has held several rounds ofdiscussion with various opposition leaders, including TMC supremo MamataBanerjee, AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal and CPI (M) general secretarySitaram Yechury.
Naidu’s TDP was a part of the NDA, but quit the alliance afew months ago.
On Friday, Naidu said not only the Telangana Rashtra Samithibut any outfit which is against the BJP is welcome to join a grand allianceafter the election results are declared on May 23.As opposition leaders scramble to form a jointanti-BJP front, hectic deliberations among them are likely to continue in thedays ahead.