TDP chief in Delhi to win support for no-trust

New Delhi: After Trinamul Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, it was the turn of Telugu Desam Party chief and Andhra Pradesh chief minister N. Chandrababu Naidu to hit the capital trail on Tuesday to push for Opposition unity against the BJP. He met leaders from several parties,  including the Congress party, to also solicit support for the no-confidence motion moved by his party against the Modi government.

Mr Naidu, who visited Parliament for the first time after breaking ties with the NDA last month over the demand for special category status for Andhra Pradesh, met Congress’ Veerappa Moily, Congress chief whip in Lok Sabha Jyotiradiya Scindia, MP Rajiv Satav and Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar.

Mr Naidu said, “For our state cause we need support of all (regional) parties and I will talk to them on this.”

He later tweeted, “Interacted with NCP president Sharad Pawar, NC president Farooq Abdullah, TMC leaders Derek O’Brien, Sudip Bandyopadhyay, Jyotiraditya Scindia from Congress regarding no-confidence motion, highlighted the injustice done to AP for its special status.”

Most Opposition parties, including the Congress, have announced support for the no-confidence motion moved by the TDP. Even though the Modi government has the numbers to remain safe, Opposition parties are pushing for the motion to send a message to the Centre. The motion has so far failed to come up in the Lok Sabha due to continuous adjournments.

The Andhra Pradesh chief minister’s Delhi visit is also likely to boost the chances of building a federal front to take on the BJP in 2019. Sources said that Mr Naidu spoke with Opposition party leaders on a range of issues, including the recent alliance between the SP and the BSP in Uttar Pradesh and how it can shape up national politics ahead of the general elections.

Sources said that though Mr Naidu blamed the BJP and Congress equally for financial woes of Andhra Pradesh, a channel of communication has been opened by the TDP with the Congress for a possible alliance in neighbouring Telangana where the TDP still has a sizeable vote bank of 15-20 per cent and the Congress is the chief Opposition to the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samiti.  

While floor leaders of almost all Opposition parties met Mr Naidu in the Central Hall of Parliament, no leader of consequence from the ruling BJP or bitter rival YSR Congress called on him.

Though the BJP leadership largely stayed away, a few party leaders who met him included Murli Manohar Joshi, Kirti Azad, Hema Malini and Jayant Sinha.

Shiromani Akali Dal’s Harsimrat Kaur Badal, Samajwadi Party’s Ram Gopal Yadav, Bahujan Samajwadi Party’s Satish Chandra Mishra, Shiv Sena’s Anant Geete, TRS MPs K. Kavitha and Jithender Reddy were among others who met the Andhra chief minister.