Chandrababu Naidu to meet Stalin this evening

After Bengaluru, Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu’s next stop is Chennai. The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief will fly down to Chennai on Friday evening to have a dinner meeting with DMK President M K Stalin to discuss the anti-BJP front.

Naidu, who is leading the Opposition’ efforts to cobble up a united coalition against the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, will seek Stalin’s support in bringing all anti-BJP parties on a single platform. Stalin, who has sharpened his attack on the BJP after he took over as the party chief following his father M Karunanidhi’s death, will receive Naidu at his Chitaranjan Road residence in Alwarpet and host a dinner meet.

Naidu’s meeting with Stalin comes just a day after he held discussions with JD(S) supremo H D Deve Gowda and his son and Karnataka chief minister H D Kumaraswamy. With the DMK already announcing that it will continue its alliance with the Congress in the 2019 polls, Naidu will have no problem in getting an assurance from the regional party on standing with other Opposition parties in taking on the BJP.

In fact, Stalin was among the first leaders to have welcomed Naidu’s meeting with Congress President Rahul Gandhi last week, saying all Opposition parties should come together to defeat the “fascist and communal” agenda of the BJP.

"Corrupt, autocratic and divisive forces are destroying the democratic fabric of our country. It is the need of the hour for all non-BJP parties to come together on a common platform. I congratulate @rahulgandhi and @ncbn for initiating steps towards this. They have my support," the DMK President had tweeted last week.

DMK and TDP have shared close ties in the past and have been part of two non-Congress, non-BJP coalitions at the Centre – National Front (1989) and United Front (1996). While Naidu’s TDP extended support to the NDA government led by A B Vajpayee, DMK was part of it from 1999 to 2003.