With just a few months to go for the General Election, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu has been meeting several leaders of various parties to build an Opposition front against the BJP-led NDA ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. During his meeting with the Leader of the Opposition and DMK president M K Stalin at his residence in Chennai on Friday, they discussed a range of issues for over an hour. The core agenda was to form a grand alliance to take on the BJP.
Under the BJP rule at the Centre, States are losing their rights. Federal structure and democracy of the nation are facing a threat. I have been vocal on urging all the regional and federal forces to work together to remove the BJP. Since Chandrababu Naidu is concurring with my contention, he has called on me and sought DMK’s support to show BJP the door. I assured him that we will stand together to remove the BJP government from the Centre, said Stalin after the meeting.
No doubt Naidu wants to be kingmaker. He said he would meet West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in this regard soon and stressed on the need to stay united irrespective of all differences, to oust the BJP. Though Chandrababu Naidu repeatedly said he was just a facilitator for a grand alliance, speculations are rife that he would be the face of the alliance for all the efforts he is taking to forge it. With BSP’s Mayawati already out of the equation, it remains to be seen what would be the final outcome. The coming days will decide where the Opposition stands.