Eye on 2019, TDP leader Naidu buries anti-Congress past, meets Rahul Gandhi to stitch alliance

Rahul Gandhi called his meeting with Naidu “a momentous occasion” and said the two parties were ready to forget the past to take on the BJP.

TDP leader and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, who has been reaching out to Opposition parties in the run-up to the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, met Congress president Rahul Gandhi Thursday as part of an exercise to stitch an alliance against the ruling BJP, saying there’s “democratic compulsion” and “we have to join together to protect the country”.

Fundamentally opposed to the Congress and a lead player in the formation of the 1996 United Front government, Naidu called the Congress “the principal Opposition party” and said “we want to organise all those parties opposing the BJP… I have proposed all political parties have one meeting on a common platform”.
Earlier in the day, Naidu met NCP chief Sharad Pawar and National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah with the suggestion for a common platform. In recent…