Veerappa Moily invites TDP to join UPA for upcoming Lok Sabha elections

Amaravati: The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) is welcome to join Congress in an alliance for the next Lok Sabha election in 2019 to take over the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government, said Veerappa Moily, former Union Law Minister, on Tuesday. 

The senior Congress leader responded to the question of a possible alliance posed by a reporter. "The Congress would like to have a good understanding with the TDP and we hope to form a Mahakutami (grand alliance) in Telangana with TDP, Congress, Telangana Jana Samiti (TJS) and Communist Party of India (CPI) to win the state Assembly election to be held on December 7," he said.

The TDP dropped out of the NDA alliance earlier this year as the Centre refused to consider Andhra Pradesh's request to grant them special status. 

Moily’s invitation to the TDP to join the alliance was extended a day after the TDP head, Chandrababu Naidu made a visit to Delhi to meet Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) leader Mayawati, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah and CPI leaders D Raja and S Sudhakar Reddy.

Though the TDP and Congress were conventional rivals since the TDP-Congress alliance in Telangana, Andhra Pradesh's Congress has mellowed, say party sources. Rahul Gandhi, the president of Congress, has been consulting several other party leaders to form an alliance against the BJP-led NDA government. 

On Saturday, the Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) president N Raghuveera Reddy, asserted that the BJP and YSRCP were plotting to undermine the AP government, which explains the change of stance. 

Sources say that the TDP’s response to Moily’s gesture can only be answered by Chandrababu Naidu himself.

Read Exclusive COVID-19 Coronavirus News updates, at MyNation.