It is an open secret that Telugu Desam Party president and Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu, who pulled his party out of the Bharatiya Janata Party led National Democratic Alliance in April this year, is getting closer to the Congress party gradually.
But the new found friendship is not confined just to form a grand alliance to pull down the BJP from power at the Centre.
Naidu’s TDP might even join the Congress party-led United Progressive Alliance after 2019 elections, if he accepts the offer given by the Congress.
On Tuesday, senior Congress leader and former Union minister from Karnataka M Veerappa Moily extended an invitation to Naidu to join the UPA for the cause of a united fight against the NDA.
In an interview to a news agency, Moily said the idea was to bring all the opposition parties together to unitedly fight the BJP-led NDA.
He was responding to a query if the electoral alliance between the TDP and the Congress in Telangana would continue for next year's Lok Sabha elections.
Moily said Naidu was welcome to join the UPA.
“We would like to have proper understanding between the Opposition. This (TDP) is one such opposition party,” he said.
On the TDP-Congress alliance in Telangana, Moily said it was a good sign for the country.
“This is going to help both the parties,” Moily said.
He also hit out at Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) president and caretaker Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao.
"...the gentleman (Rao) who has been heading (Telangana) is most ungrateful fellow," he said and claimed that Rao became the Chief Minister following the "sacrifice" made by the Congress in terms of conceding the demand for separate statehood for Telangana.
"But he (Rao) does not remember at all. He has bad-mouthed our leader. I don't think people of Telangana will forgive him," Moily said referring to Rao describing Congress President Rahul Gandhi as the "biggest buffoon" of the country.
"Since there is a proper 'ghatbandhan' in Telangana (where the Congress is in the process of finalising seat-sharing deal with TDP, TJS and CPI), we are also going to win there", he claimed.
