Kejriwal to join Oppn meeting called by TDP chief Naidu

NEW DELHI: In a first of its kind, Delhi Chief Minister and AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal will join the Congress and other opposition parties in the December 10 meeting called by Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) supremo N Chandrababu Naidu to forge a common strategy to fight the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

It will be the first time that AAP will attend such a formal meeting of opposition parties, although its leaders participated in protests such as the Bharat Bandh (nationwide strike) called by Congress on September 10 against rising fuel prices. Chief Minister Kejriwal and Congress president Rahul Gandhi also shared the stage for the first time during a protest by farmers' organizations at Delhi's Jantar Mantar on November 30 to demand better prices for agricultural produce.

For the Delhi politics, this meeting would be significant as here AAP and Congress are rivals. At the same time, AAP has repeatedly maintained its distance from both the BJP and Congress. The party has fought all the elections without going with anyone. In Delhi, the Congress chief Ajay Maken is reportedly anti-AAP and always opposed any collaboration with the party.