Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Wednesday, 23 May, expressed happiness over Janata Dal (Secular) chief HD Kumaraswamy swearing in as the 24th chief minister of Karnataka. Naidu said he wishes to see regional political parties grow in Indian politics.
Speaking to the media in Bengaluru, the chief minister said, “We all are here to express our solidarity with Kumaraswamy. All regional parties… we are expressing our solidarity. In the future, we will work together to protect ourselves and also to promote national interest, that is our agenda”.
When questioned by reporters on whether he will be forming a front against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), he said, “We want to promote more and more regional parties, we want to strengthen regional parties. That is Mamataji’s (Mamata Banerjee) mission… even our motive”.
When quizzed if he would support the Congress in the 2019 elections, he said that he had come to support Kumaraswamy, who leads a regional party.
Naidu, president of the Telugu Desam Party, which was previously an ally of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), had a fallout with the BJP after the central government refused Special Category Status to Andhra Pradesh as per the AP Reorganisation Act.
For Kumaraswamy's swearing-in ceremony, a galaxy of Opposition leaders were invited to showcase unity against the BJP ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
Congress President Rahul Gandhi, his mother and United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, CPI(M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury were also invited.
The guests who attended the ceremony include: Chief Minister of West Bengal and President of Trinamool Congress Mamata Banerjee, Chief Minister of Kerala Pinarayi Vijayan, Chief Minister of Delhi Arvind Kejriwal, Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Tejashwi Yadav, Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati, Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav and Rashtriya Lok Dal chief Ajit Singh.
Kumaraswamy is the third son of former Prime Minister and JD(S) supremo HD Deve Gowda.
Earlier in the day, he visited his parents' house in Bengaluru south and took the blessings of Gowda and mother Chennamma.
The chief minister offered prayers to Hindu goddess Chamundeshwari at a hill temple ahead of taking oath.
The JD(S) Congress combine has 117 members, including one from regional party Karnataka Pragnyavantha Janata Paksha (KPJP) and an Independent.
In the 224-member Assembly, which currently has 222 members, the JD(S) has 36, its pre-poll ally BSP has one, Congress 78 and the BJP 104 members.
The JD(S) agreed to form a post-poll alliance with the Congress that kept the BJP, the single-largest party, away from power in its only southern bastion.
(This piece was originally published on The News Minute and has been republished with permission. Read the original story here.)
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