Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu visited Bengaluru late on Tuesday to meet his Karnataka counterpart HD Kumaraswamy after the Janata Dal (Secular) leader cancelled his trip to New Delhi to meet Opposition leaders. Naidu also met Kumaraswamy’s father and former Prime Minister HD Devegowda.

The Telugu Desam Party leader sought their support for forming an alliance to stake claim to a government at the Centre if the Lok Sabha elections result in a fractured verdict, JD(S) official Ramesh Babu told IANS. Naidu also apprised them of his discussions with other Opposition leaders in recent days, he added. Naidu reportedly requested Devegowda and Kumaraswamy to be in New Delhi on Friday for a meeting of Opposition leaders, he added.

Meanwhile, The Indian Express reported that serious efforts were being made to induct Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao’s Telangana Rashtra Samithi and Jagan Mohan Reddy’s YSR Congress Party into the anti-BJP grouping. The two parties have indicated previously they do not want to be a part of an anti-BJP front that includes the Congress.

Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar has reached out to Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and K Chandrashekar Rao, reports said. According to the Hindustan Times, Pawar tried to talk to Jagan Mohan Reddy but the YSR Congress Party chief was not available because he is travelling abroad.

On Tuesday, Chandrababu Naidu was part of a delegation of 21 Opposition parties that met the Election Commission to reiterate their demands related to the electronic voting machines and voter verified paper audit trail machines.

On Saturday, Naidu held discussions with Sharad Pawar, Congress President Rahul Gandhi, Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav and Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati about the possibility of a grand Opposition coalition following the Lok Sabha election results. The Andhra Pradesh chief minister also met Communist Party of India leaders G Sudhakar Reddy and D Raja in Delhi. He met West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday.