Efforts for 'anti-BJP' front: Chandrababu Naidu meets Mamata Banerjee in Kolkata

Kolkata, Nov 19: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Monday met his West Bengal counterpart Mamata Banerjee in Kolkata. Naidu would invite her to attend a meeting of opposition leaders in Delhi on November 22.

Chandrababu Naidu has been travelling the length and breadth of the country, and meeting leaders from a wide spectrum of opposition parties in a bid to forge a strong political front to take on the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

Naidu had earlier said that a strong unity among parties that oppose BJP was need of the hour. The November 22 meeting will focus on the form and structure of the proposed anti-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) front.

Naidu had recently met former Prime Minister and JD(S) chief H D Deve Gowda, Gowda's son and Karnataka CM H D Kumaraswamy and DMK president M K Stalin as part of his efforts to forge a front against the BJP. He had earlier met leaders from different parties such as Rahul Gandhi, Sharad Pawar, Farooq Abdullah and Arvind Kejriwal.

The meeting between Naidu and Banerjee comes three days after Banerjee publicly endorsed Naidu's stand to stop the CBI from investigating cases in state and decided to do the same in Bengal.

''I appeal all parties opposing BJP to join us. We want to create an anti-BJP platform. We want to have one meeting in Delhi. We'll discuss issues and then chalk out a programme and take the issues forward. That's the agenda. Meeting's tentative date is 22nd November,'' Naidu had said on November 11.

Naidu had blamed Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the present state of affairs in the CBI and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). He said the value of rupee have fallen, prices of essential commodities have risen, unemployment has increased, and farmers are in a crisis.