Naidu terms alliance with Cong a ‘democratic compulsion’ to save India
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu on Thursday discarded his party’s age-old anti-Congress stance and called on Congress president Rahul Gandhji as well several Opposition leaders in a bid to script a pre-poll Opposition alliance to take on the BJP.
Naidu’s meeting with Rahul came after the TDP and the Congress joined hands for the upcoming Telangana Assembly elections. The Thursday development not only marks the beginning of a new chapter in the TDP-Congress relationship, but it could also pave the way for uniting the Opposition parties ahead of the next year’s poll. From 1990 onward, Naidu never contested any election with the Congress, be it State or Lok Sabha polls.
Earlier in the day, Naidu met NCP chief Sharad Pawar and National Conference president Farooq Abdullah here. Naidu also met senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad at the Indira Gandhi International Airport here and briefly discussed about the need to bring all non-BJP political parties together. The Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister also held talks with former JD(U) leader Sharad Yadav.
Meanwhile, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav landed in the national Capital for alliance discussion.
This is Naidu’s second visit to Delhi in less than a week. He has already held preliminary discussions with Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, BSP chief Mayawati, Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy and the DMK leader.
After the meeting, Rahul told the media that the focal point is defeating the BJP.
“We have agreed that principle idea here is to defeat the BJP and to defend democracy and the institutions of this country,” Rahul said standing side by side with Naidu. “All other ideas will be discussed later,” he said deflecting a question of who would be the face of proposed Opposition alliance in the next elections.
“It is very clear that corruption is taking place. Institutions that can investigate are being attacked... A proper enquiry 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.
When asked about the past bitter and confrontational relations between the Congress and the TDP, Rahul said,
“We have a past. We have both agreed that we are not going to talk about our past and talk about our future”.
Naidu, whose entry on the national scene as a facilitators to bring together all the major non-BJP parties has created a sensation and buzz in national politics, said that very soon the leaders of all the non-BJP parties were going to meet to chalk out the future course of action.
“We have to save this nation and save democracy. That is our mission. I discussed with Rahulji. In principle we agreed,” he said refusing to go into the troubled past of the relations between the two parties.
Backing Naidu’s effort to unite the Opposition, NCP supremo Sharad Pawar said non-BJP parties will come out with a common minimum programme to take on the Government, while expressing concern over “assault” on the CBI and the RBI.
“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”.
A common minimum programme will be drafted once the non-BJP parties come on board to discuss the matter, Pawar said.
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.”