TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu ups efforts to build Opposition unity, to meet Congress president Rahul Gandhi today

Amaravati: Intensifying his efforts to build an Opposition alliance to take on the BJP, Andhra Pradesh chief minister and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief N Chandrababu Naidu will meet Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Thursday.

In his second visit to New Delhi in less than a week, Naidu will call on Rahul as part of his efforts to bring all Opposition parties on a common platform.

Addressing a party programme in Amaravati on Wednesday night, Naidu said he will meet Rahul in the national capital on Thursday.

This will be the TDP chief’s first meeting with the Congress president, though the two had shared the dais at the swearing-in of Karnataka chief minister HD Kumaraswamy in May.

The TDP chief had called on Aam Admi Party leader and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, Loktantrik Janata Dal chief Sharad Yadav and Bahujan Samaj Party leader Mayawati on Saturday.

He is likely to meet Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar and leaders of Left parties on Thursday. Naidu said he was trying to bring all like-minded Opposition parties together to form an alliance as an alternative to the BJP.

Naidu, who had pulled out of the BJP-led NDA in March, said the policies pursued by the BJP posed a threat to democracy in the country. “I have taken up the responsibility to save the country from this threat. It is the duty of all to save the country,” he said.

He claimed that he was offered the post of prime minister twice, but he refused. He said the time had come again for the TDP to play a key role in national politics.

Naidu reiterated that Modi betrayed people of Andhra Pradesh by going back on the promise to undo injustice done to them with the bifurcation of the state