Chandrababu Naidu to meet Rahul Gandhi on Thursday: TDP sources
New Delhi, Nov 1 : TDP supremo and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, who is trying to unite the opposition parties to take on the BJP in the Lok Sabha elections next year, will meet Congress president Rahul Gandhi here on Thursday, sources said.
According to Telugu Desam Party (TDP) sources, Naidu will meet Gandhi at his residence around 3:30 pm and they are likely to hold discussions for an alliance for the December 7 Assembly elections in Telangana.
They said the two parties are engaged in seat-sharing talks for the Assembly elections, and during the meeting the leaders will also discuss the Lok Sabha polls next year.
Naidu, a former BJP ally who quit the NDA early this year over the Centre's refusal to grant special status to Andhra Pradesh, met BSP chief Mayawati, Jammu and Kashmir National Conference president Farooq Abdullah and former BJP leader Yashwant Sinha here in the national capital on October 27.
According to TDP sources, Naidu "coincidentally" met senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad at the Indira Gandhi International Airport here earlier on Thursday.
The TDP chief is playing the role of a "facilitator" to bring together all opposition parties to stop the BJP juggernaut in the 2019 general elections, a party leader said.
So far, Naidu has kept his cards close to his chest on seeking support of the Congress to forge a united front ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.
He had earlier said that his party would play a pivotal role in the 2019 polls and that regional parties would form government at the Centre, though he had ruled himself out of the prime ministerial race.
According to TDP sources, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav spoke to Naidu over the phone yesterday and the latter will visit Delhi every week to speed up the process of uniting opposition parties.
The TDP had earlier criticised the Congress on the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh. Meeting with Gandhi is seen as fresh efforts to align with the party ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.
After BJP leader B S Yeddyurappa resigned as Karnataka chief minister before a no-confidence vote just two days after being sworn in, Naidu had termed the saffron party a "back door party" trying to enter south India by "unfair" means.
The Andhra Pradesh government has also accused the Centre of not supporting it in the construction of the Polavaram irrigation project, Kadapa steel plant, building a new capital city, and doing a flip flop on special package for the state on the lines of Bundelkhand region.
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Another North Goa nightclub sealed; Kejriwal says corruption led to fire tragedy
Panaji (PTI): As part of a crackdown against tourist establishments violating laws and safety norms in the aftermath of the Arpora fire tragedy, Goa authorities on Saturday sealed a renowned club at Vagator and revoked the fire department NOC of another club.
Cafe CO2 Goa, located on a cliff overlooking the Arabian Sea at Vagator beach in North Goa, was sealed. The move came two days after Goya Club, also in Vagator, was shut down for alleged violations of rules.
Elsewhere, campaigning for local body polls, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal said the fire incident at Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub at Arpora, which claimed 25 lives on December 6, happened because the BJP government in the state was corrupt.
An inspection of Cafe CO2 Goa by a state government-appointed team revealed that the establishment, with a seating capacity of 250, did not possess a no-objection certificate (NOC) of the Fire and Emergency Services Department. The club, which sits atop Ozrant Cliff, also did not have structural stability, the team found.
The Fire and Emergency Services on Saturday also revoked the NOC issued to Diaz Pool Club and Bar at Anjuna as the fire extinguishers installed in the establishment were found to be inadequate, said divisional fire officer Shripad Gawas.
A notice was issued to Nitin Wadhwa, the partner of the club, he said in the order.
Campaigning at Chimbel village near Panaji in support of his party's Zilla Panchayat election candidate, Aam Aadmi Party leader Kejriwal said the nightclub fire at Arpora happened because of the "corruption of the Pramod Sawant-led state government."
"Why this fire incident happened? I read in the newspapers that the nightclub had no occupancy certificate, no building licence, no excise licence, no construction licence or trade licence. The entire club was illegal but still it was going on," he said.
"How could it go on? Couldn't Pramod Sawant or anyone else see it? I was told that hafta (bribe) was being paid," the former Delhi chief minister said.
A person can not work without bribing officials in the coastal state, Kejriwal said, alleging that officers, MLAs and even ministers are accepting bribes.
