VIJAYAWADA: After a long gap, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and TDP supremo N Chandrababu Naidu met during the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav National Committee meeting held in New Delhi on Saturday. After the meeting, Modi and Naidu are learnt to have held discussions for a while. However, what transpired between the duo is not known yet.
The meeting assumes significance as it was the first meeting of the duo after the TDP snapped ties with the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) before the 2019 elections. Earlier in the day, Naidu along with his party MPs and leaders called on President Droupadi Murmu at the Rashtrapati Bhavan.“It is nothing but a courtesy call to congratulate Murmu on her victory as the President of India,” Naidu said.
He said that the TDP extended unconditional support to her and all the party MPs and MLAs voted in her favour.
Nani creates flutter
TDP MP Kesineni Srinivas (Nani) reportedly created a flutter during party supremo N Chandrababu Naidu’s visit to New Delhi on Saturday.In a video clip of the TDP MPs welcoming Naidu, the Vijayawada MP was seen refusing to give the bouquet to the party chief even as fellow MP Galla Jayadev asked Nani to present it. However, Nani accompanied Naidu during his visit to the Rashtrapati Bhavan later in the day and was seen standing next to the TDP chief and sharing some light moments.
Differences cropped up between Nani and a group of TDP leaders in Vijayawada, including Bonda Umamaheswara Rao and Buddha Venkanna, during the election campaign for the VMC. Since then, Nani has reportedly been unhappy with the party leadership and has expressed his dissatisfaction on Twitter on some occasions.
It is learnt that Nani is also of the view that the party leadership is promoting his younger brother as the contender for the Vijayawada Lok Sabha seat in the next elections. Nani maintained a distance from the party for some time and even abstained from ‘Mahanadu’, the annual conclave of TDP. He, however, attended the meeting organised by the party to welcome BJP presidential candidate Droupadi Murmu to Vijayawada. However, it appeared all is well as he attended the TDP Parliamentary meeting chaired by Naidu.