Delhi:Time was when Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu and CPI(M) General Secretary H.S. Surjeet were thick as thieves. During the United Front's 18-month reign, whenever Naidu visited Delhi, his first port of call used to be Surjeet's Teen Murti Lane residence.However, the TDP chief's decision to flirt with the BJP led to an acrimonious split between the two and the friends-turned-foes have neither met nor spoken to each other for the past two months. While Naidu has so far refrained from criticising his erstwhile friend in public, Surjeet has not spared Naidu for "supping with the enemy". Last week, the two bumped into each other at the VIP lounge of Delhi's Palam airport. Spotting Surjeet all by himself, Naidu walked up to him and greeted him, but the veteran communist, still upset at the "betrayal", merely acknowledged the gesture. Unperturbed, Naidu took his senior colleague in a bear hug, saying, "I had my compulsions, you had yours. But surely, we can be friends?" Surjeet's steely look, however, suggested otherwise.Published By: AtMigration Published On: Jun 8, 1998--- ENDS ---
