Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu will meet West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in Nabanna on Monday over a proposed anti-BJP coalition with Opposition parties.

Banerjee had invited all anti-BJP Opposition leaders to attend a meeting at the Brigade Parade ground on Monday.

The meeting gains significance ahead of a meeting called by Opposition parties on November 22 in Hyderabad to discuss the formation of an anti-BJP platform. Naidu is likely to convince Banerjee to join the broad coalition of Opposition parties against the BJP.

With the calls for a united anti-BJP front gathering steam, this development could well be the stepping stone for a pan-India alliance to take on the BJP-led NDA.

Earlier this week, Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal governments withdrew their “general consent” to the CBI to conduct raids and investigations, as the Opposition alleged that the states were losing faith in central agencies due to their “misuse” by the Narendra Modi government at the Centre.

In what appears to be a crucial strategic move ahead of the 2019 general elections, Chandrababu Naidu on November 1 met Congress President Rahul Gandhi, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president Sharad Pawar, and National Conference (NC) supremo Farooq Abdullah.

In his bid to plot the demise of the Narendra Modi-led NDA government, Naidu had on November 8 met Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy and former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda in Bengaluru.

Naidu had earlier lashed out at the BJP and the central government saying that it will be a real Diwali for the country only when the misrule of the NDA government comes to an end.

Naidu’s visit came immediately after a thumping victory of the JD(S)-Congress alliance in Karnataka in which the BJP lost its bastion Bellary to the Congress after 14 years.

The Congress-JD(S) coalition in Karnataka won two of the three Lok Sabha seats and both assembly constituencies in the fiercely fought bypolls, giving a shot in the arm to the ruling combine that faces frequent questions about its longevity.

On November 10, Naidu met DMK president MK Stalin in a bid to forge a grand alliance against the BJP.

Naidu had also met BSP chief Mayawati and former BJP leader Yashwant Sinha in the national capital on October 27.

In his efforts to stitch a grand alliance, Naidu has been touring the country recently and meeting leaders of various regional and national parties with only a few months left for the Lok Sabha polls.