Rahul, Chandrababu share dais at Telangana rally

Once bitter rivals, Congress President Rahul Gandhi and TDP leader and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu on Wednesday shared the dais at their first public meeting here to campaign for 'People's Front' candidates in Telangana's Assembly elections.

This is the first time two top leaders of the Congress and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) shared the stage at an election rally since they agreed to work together to form an alliance of non-BJP parties at the national level.

In a dramatic shift of TDP's stand towards the Congress, Naidu met Rahul Gandhi this month and they agreed to bury the past and work together to unite opposition parties.

The two parties along with the Communist Party of India (CPI) and Telangana Jana Samithi (TJS) have formed 'People's Front'.

CPI leader S. Sudhakar Reddy, TJS leader M. Kodandaram, former Maoist ideologue and revolutionary balladeer Madiga Reservation Porata Samithi (MRPS) leader Manda Krishna Madiga also shared the dais with Gandhi and Chandrababu Naidu.

Congress party's Telangana unit President Uttam Kumar Reddy termed the meeting "historic".

Elections to the 119-member Telangana Assembly are scheduled to be held on December 7. The Congress is contesting 94 seats while TDP has fielded candidates in 13 constituencies. The remaining seats are being contested by CPI and TJS.

--IANS

ms/mr