As part of his ongoing efforts to bring all regional parties together to put up a united fight against the BJP-led NDA government in the Lok Sabha polls, Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy on Thursday met his Andhra Pradesh counterpart N. Chandrababu Naidu and discussed the modalities of unifying regional parties, especially in the south.
Mr. Kumaraswamy met Mr. Naidu in Vijayawada for nearly 40 minutes. JD(S) sources said that Mr. Kumaraswamy went to Vijayawada to visit Kanaka Durga Temple atop the Indrakeeladri hill. He arrived at Gannavaram airport early on Friday and stayed at a private hotel in Vijayawada, where Mr. Naidu met him.
After the meeting, Mr. Kumaraswamy said both the leaders have discussed about unifying regional parties to distance the NDA government from power in the coming Lok Sabha polls. He also said that JD(S) as a regional party enjoys cordial relations with Telugu Desam Party. According to sources, Mr. Kumaraswamy expressed his gratitude to Mr. Naidu for supporting JD(S) in the recent Assembly polls by asking Telugu speaking people in Karnataka to vote against the BJP. He also said that the process of uniting regional parties was progressing fast and meeting of Mr. Naidu was a continuation of that.
PM candidate
When asked about their Prime Ministerial candidate, the Karnataka Chief Minister said it would be decided through consensus after discussion.
Recalling the harmonious relation between Mr. Naidu and JD(S) patriarch H.D. Deve Gowda, a senior JD(S) leader said: “ Mr. Gowda and Mr. Naidu are close friends from the days of the United Front government. With an aim of hammering a united front of regional parties, Mr. Gowda invited leaders of all regional parties for the swearing-in ceremony of Mr. Kumaraswamy to send out a message of unity of the Opposition,” he said.
