Andhra CM stabbing his own party members: Ram Madhav

In response to Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu's meeting with Congress President Rahul Gandhi, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) General Secretary Ram Madhav claimed that Naidu is not following the principles of Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and is back-stabbing his own party members by taking such moves.

"Naidu first backstabbed N. T. Rama Rao (former Andhra Pradesh CM) and now he is backstabbing his party members. He met Rahul and other members in order to remain in power," he told reporters here on Thursday.

Training guns at the Opposition, Madhav said that Congress' motto is to pull every political outfit down and join the bandwagon of the defeated under their "motto" - Hum toh doobe hain saath main tumhe bhi doobange (if we go down, we'll take you down with us).

Naidu met the Gandhi scion in an attempt to stitch an alliance against the ruling government ahead of the 2019 polls. Speaking to media, the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister had said, "We (TDP and Congress) are coming together to save the nation. We have to forget the past. Now, it is a democratic compulsion to unite. All opposition needs to be one. I have been into politics for over 40 years but have never seen such a government, the situation in the country demands coming together of all opposition parties."

Rahul had also addressed the media moments after the meeting and stated, "We had a very good meeting. The gist was that we have to defend democracy and future of the country. So, we are coming together to work. All opposition forces must unite."

To this, Madhav had opined that those leaders who are voicing support for the grand alliance are likely to join Prime Minister Narendra Modi after conclusion of the General Elections.

"The grand alliance is a non-starter at present. It is motivated by one single agenda of hatred. That is wrong. I can say one thing - those who are saying Mahagathbandhan (grand alliance) will defeat Prime Minister Modi, after 2019, if the situation arrives, some of them will join Modi," Madhav said.