Bengaluru: National Conference (NC) president Farooq Abdullah on Wednesday met with former Prime Minister and Janata Dal-Secular JD (S) president HD Deve Gowda in Bengaluru.
The former chief minister of Karnataka HD Kumaraswamy and other JD(S) leaders were also present at the meeting at the residence of Dewe Gowda.
Talking to media persons after the meeting, the former J&K Chief Minister said, "I was here to thank him (Deve Gowda) for what he did as Prime Minister of India and for what he did for my state. We had a free election. When nobody wanted to come there, when people were afraid of terrorism, he as PM came, inaugurated many development projects there. He also went to Rajouri and many places close to the border to show the world that Kashmir is part of this nation."
Further, Abdullah said that these meetings are important because they will unite the opposition for the Lok Sabha election in 2024.
The JD(S) chief apparently remains non-committal on joining the Opposition parties banding together for the 2024 polls against the BJP.
"Show me one party which has not associated with the BJP, either directly or indirectly. Show me one party in the whole country, then I will answer," Gowda said on Tuesday responding to a question on Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's efforts to bring together non-BJP parties.
Addressing a press briefing at JP Bhavan in Bengaluru yesterday, Gowda said, "Show me if there is any party in the country which is not joining hands with BJP. After that, I will talk about the unity of the opposition parties. All the parties have directly or indirectly joined hands with the BJP. Some leaders of the Congress party are also among them."
Meanwhile, Abdullah talking to reporters here in Bengaluru said that films like 'Kerala Story' and 'Kashmir Files' said that such films are made to divide India. "India belongs to every one of us. Whether you're Muslim, Hindu, Sikh or whatever you are. Whether you belong to Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra or Kashmir, India belongs to everyone. We're all one. And these films are made to destroy India", he added.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)