Almost all political parties are busy with assembly elections in different states, says Naidu
The meeting of all anti-BJP parties of the country, convened by Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and Telugu Desam party chief N Chandrababu Naidu, has been deferred from November 22 to an undecided date, owing to elections in five other states.
"Almost all political parties are busy with assembly elections in different states. Hence, it has been decided that the meeting be postponed till December before the forthcoming winter session of the Parliament. The date of the meeting will be announced later," Naidu said after a meeting with West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday at Nabanna, the state secretariat.
At the same time, after the meeting, which lasted over an hour, Naidu said he has accepted the invitation for Mamata's rally at Brigade Parade Ground on January. "We all have to fight together to save our country and protect our democracy," he said.
Questioned about who the face of the alliance would be, Mamata, standing beside Naidu, said, "All will be the face of the alliance." Naidu added, "I think that all of us are more experienced than Narendra Modi as administrators and also are much better performers than him."
On the issue of barring Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in his state, Naidu said, "It is the prerogative of the state government, which I have decided to exercise. The current Union government is resorting to institutional pressure by different central agencies on opposition parties." He alleged that the present dispensation had endangered democracy by keeping organisations and agencies under pressure. "You name any institution – CBI, ED, IT, RBI and even the CAG – they are all under pressure. Demonetisation was a big farce. Petrol and diesel prices are rising. Intolerance towards minorities and others is a big problem," he added. Mamata however, refused to comment on the CBI saying, "I will comment on this matter later, since today's meeting was totally political in nature."
Questioned about Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati's presence in the alliance, Naidu said, "We are in touch with Mayawati. Those who want to save the nation will work together."
State BJP leaders, however, were not ready to give too much importance to the Mamata-Naidu meeting. BJP national secretary and former party state president Rahul Sinha said it would be, if at all, an unholy alliance and that the BJP will be benefitted at the end of it all. "There is no presence of N Chandrababu Naidu's party in West Bengal and neither is Mamata's party's present in Andhra Pradesh. These regional parties together will have no effect on Narendra Modi's popularity. People have seen the result of an alliance government and what disaster those have spelt in the past."
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 "WB CM Mamata Banerjee and Andhra Pradesh CM Chandrababu Naidu in Kolkata on Monday")
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