The Andhra Chief Minister is believed to have impressed upon the two leaders in UP, the need to keep the BJP out of power, if it did not get a majority on its own.
Continuing his campaign to meet various leaders and sew up a non-BJP front before the announcement of Lok Sabha results on May 23, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief Chandrababu Naidu met Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav and Bahujan Samaj Party President Mayawati in Lucknow on Saturday.
He held talks with Akhilesh Yadav for about 70 minutes at the Samajwadi Party office.
Akhilesh Yadav later tweeted: "It is a pleasure to welcome Hon'ble chief minister Shri Chandrababu Naidu ji to Lucknow."
Later Naidu went to Mayawati's Mall Avenue residence. Senior BSP leader Satish Chandra Misra was also present there.
Mayawati greeted him with a bouquet while he gifted her box of mangoes. He had also gifted mangoes to Akhilesh Yadav. His meeting with Mayawati also continued for over an hour.
In his meetings held separately with the two leaders, the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister is believed to have impressed upon the two leaders the need to keep the BJP out of power, if it did not get a majority on its own.
Sources said that he convinced both the leaders that their stature and respect would not be compromised in the proposed front.
జాతీయస్థాయిలో బీజేపీయేతర పార్టీ నాయకులందరితో ప్రత్యేకంగా సమావేశమవుతున్నారు ముఖ్యమంత్రి @ncbn. ఈ సందర్భంగా లక్నోలో ఈరోజు సమాజ్ వాదీ పార్టీ అధ్యక్షులు అఖిలేష్ యాదవ్ గారిని, బీఎస్పీ అధక్షురాలు మాయావతిగారిని కలిసి ఎన్నికల ఫలితాల తరువాత అనుసరించాల్సిన కార్యాచరణపై చర్చించారు. pic.twitter.com/II6ILfKic0
— Telugu Desam Party (@JaiTDP) May 18, 2019
Naidu had arrived in Lucknow after meeting Congress President Rahul Gandhi in Delhi earlier on Saturday.
He had met CPI-M leader Sitaram Yechury and Aam Admi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal on Friday and had discussed with them the possibility of a tie-up in the post-result scenario.
Naidu's efforts come ahead of UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi's proposed meeting of opposition leaders on May 23, the invitations for which have already been sent out.
Earlier in the week, Naidu said that he was open to working with any political party that was against the BJP, including his Telangana counterpart K Chandrasekhar Rao and the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS)."We welcome not only the TRS but any party which is against the BJP. We are welcoming all such parties to be part of our grand alliance. I am meeting everybody. We will chalk out a plan after discussing with all leaders." Naidu told reporters in Delhi.
IANS inputs
Body 2: