New Delhi: Underscoring the need for the opposition to unite to save India’s democracy and constitution, Andhra Pradesh chief minister N. Chandrababu Naidu held talks with Janata Dal (Secular) president H.D. Deve Gowda and Karnataka chief minister H.D. Kumaraswamy in Bengaluru on Thursday.
The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief further said that all parties must come together against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), under which he said every institution, including the CBI and RBI, had been destroyed – a clear attempt at uniting the opposition against the saffron party ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
According to News18, he also put the focus on minorities, saying they “are under tremendous pressure and are insecure. It is our responsibility to join together to protect the nation.” Naidu went on to say that Modi government’s economic policies, mainly demonetisation, had put the economy in peril and caused the severe devaluation of the rupee, Scroll.in reported.
Naidu’s meeting with Gowda and Kumaraswamy came just days after he met with heads of opposition parties, including Rahul Gandhi, where he had termed his party’s alliance with the Congress a “democratic compulsion” to protect the country.
Echoing Naidu’s views, Gowda alleged the BJP-led NDA had created issues by destroying various institutions of the country. “It is the responsibility of all secular parties including the Congress to come together to oust the present government,” he said.
The meeting came amid the ruling Congress-JDS coalition winning two out of the three Lok Sabha seats and two assembly segments that went to by-polls in Karnataka on November 3.
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Launching a tirade against the BJP-led NDA government, Naidu further alleged that the saffron party had betrayed the TDP in Andhra Pradesh as it did not confer special status for AP.
The TDP broke away from the BJP-led NDA in March this year.
Opposition unity in Telangana
Meanwhile, after days of deliberation, the opposition Congress-led grand alliance in Telangana has decided on the sharing of seats between the constituents for the upcoming December 7 assembly elections.
R.C. Khuntia, Congress general secretary in-charge of Telangana affairs, said that Congress would contest 94 seats in the 119-member assembly, Hindustan Times reported. The rest 25 would be for its allies – 14 for the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), eight for Telangana Jana Samithi (TJS) and three for Communist Party of India.
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With Congress allotting one seat to Telangana Inti Party president Cheruku Sudhakar, it will, in effect, be contesting in 93 seats.
Earlier this year, the four parties had announced maha kootami (grand alliance) in Telangana, meant to take on chief minister K. Chandrashekar Rao-led Telangana Rashtra Samithi. The matter had till now been delayed due to TJS not agreeing on the five seats it was allotted earlier, demanding a bigger share.
(With agency inputs)