New Delhi
Renewing his mission to bring together political parties opposed to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Thursday met Congress president Rahul Gandhi, Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar and National Conference president Farooq Abdullah.

Naidu is trying to unite opposition parties to take on the saffron party in the Lok Sabha elections next year.
Gandhi in the presence of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Naidu said both of them have decided “not to get into the past” but talk about the present and the future as it is “critical” for the country.

Asserting that there is a need to save the nation and the democracy, Naidu said he discussed this will the Congress president and they have agreed to it in-principle.
Gandhi tweeted,”I had a good meeting today with Shri Chandrababu Naidu. Amongst other things, we discussed the issue of opposition unity. I look forward to carrying forward our dialogue and to working together in the upcoming state & general elections”.

Before that, he told reporters, “We are working together, we are going to work together. All Opposition forces are going to work together to defend India, our institutions and our democracy.

“We have had a past. Both of us have agreed we are not going to get into the past. We are going to talk about the present and future because it is critical for our country,” Gandhi told reporters.

He said because of the situation in the country, “let all opposition forces come together and provide a vision.” Asked who is going to be the face for an Opposition alliance, Gandhi said both the leaders have agreed that the principle idea is to defeat the BJP and defend democracy and institutions of this country. “All other ideas, we will discuss later,” he said, adding,”Everyone is going to work together.”

Earlier, addressing mediapersons along with Pawar and Abdullah here, Naidu said he had consulted both the senior politicians in his quest to bring together non-BJP parties in order to save the future generations and in the interest of the nation.

Both Pawar and Abdullah to expressed anguish over the country being in a deep crisis. Discussions, they said, were on as to how to protect the country by chalking out a common minimum programme.

This is the second visit of Naidu to Delhi within a week after he met senior political leaders, including Mayawati, Arvind Kejriwal, Sharad Yadav, Abdullah and Sudhakar Reddy and D. Raja, on October 24.

Ever since the TDP snapped ties with the BJP charging that the government of Narendra Modi had give the residual state of Andhra Pradesh a raw deal, Naidu has been on the move against the BJP-led NDA government.