Oppn unity: Naidu, Pawar pitch for meet in Delhi

Raising the pitch for Opposition unity which appeared faltering ahead of upcoming Assembly polls, top leaders Sharad Pawar, N Chandrababu Naidu and Farooq Abdullah on Thursday got together to breathe fresh air into the experiment to take on the Modi regime.

With the slogan 'Save the Country, Save Democracy', they announced plans for a joint opposition meeting in the national capital to chalk out a “common minimum programme” and entrusted Naidu to talk to other leaders to take forward the initiative. Naidu will be talking to Congress chief Rahul Gandhi later this afternoon.

The decision came at a meeting initiated by TDP president and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Naidu, who is playing the role of a “facilitator”, had with NCP chief Pawar and National Conference patriarch Farooq Abdullah in the capital.

This is the second time Naidu is in the capital in five days. Last weekend, he held meetings with BSP chief Mayawati, AAP's Arvind Kejriwal, LJD mentor Sharad Yadav and former BJP leader Yashwant Singh.

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The three leaders were in unison in expressing their dissatisfaction with the Modi government and pitched for a united front to take on the BJP in the coming elections. The leaders said the situation was “deteriorating” and that the country was going through a “difficult situation”.

Pawar told reporters after the meeting, “in such a situation, there was a suggestion from Chandrababu that we should discuss collectively. We should try to invite non-BJP parties to assess the situation. Save the Country, save democracy. We need to collectively work together.”

He said Naidu has been entrusted to talk to all leaders and organise a meeting where they will chalk out a programme.

Emphasising that the country is going through “so many problems”, Naidu said, “we want to discuss with other parties and leaders, including Rahul Gandhi. Finally, we will have a meeting in Delhi to talk about the programme. We have a mission but not ambition.”

Later in the day, Naidu will be meeting Gandhi in a politically significant development. This is for the first time TDP is having a political discussion with Congress since its inception in 1984 under Telugu matinee idol N T Rama Rao.

Naidu and Gandhi are expected to discuss the national political situation and how to enlarge the Opposition space to effectively take on Modi regime.

The Telugu leader has made it clear in the past couple of months after his bitter parting of ways with the BJP-led NDA that excluding a national party like Congress from an Opposition group is not feasible in the fight against BJP.

Naidu feels that "political compulsion" will force all Opposition parties to come together either pre-poll or post-poll against the BJP. Naidu had also made it clear that it was impossible to provide a stable government at the Centre by the present Opposition parties at the Centre without Congress.

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