Parties will come out with common minimum programme to take on BJP: Pawar

NCP supremo Sharad Pawar on Thursday said non-BJP parties will come out with a common minimum programme to take on the government, while expressing concern over "assault" on institutions like the CBI and the RBI.

He said Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu will take the initiative and talk to other non-BJP parties, including the Congress, on the matter.

Thereafter, a meeting will be convened in the national capital to chalk out a plan, Pawar said after meeting Naidu and National Conference (NC) president Farooq Abdullah.

"If we collectively work to save democracy, we can definitely save the institutions. Chandrababu (Naidu) will talk to other state political leaders in this regard," the NCP chief told reporters.

Alleging that the situation in the country seems to be "deteriorating" day by day as there is "assault" on institutions like the CBI and the RBI, he said there is a need to work for the common cause of "saving the country and democracy".

A common minimum programme will be drafted once the non-BJP parties come on board to discuss the matter, Pawar said.

It was Naidu's suggestion that all non-BJP parties should meet, discuss the current situation in the country and take some steps, he added.

Voicing concern over the "difficult" times the country is going through, Abdullah said, "Today, democracy is in danger and people are in danger. That is why we all met and decided to work out a common minimum programme to save democracy, institutions and the nation."

Naidu, a former BJP ally who quit the NDA early this year over the Centre's refusal to grant special status to Andhra Pradesh, said he will meet non-BJP political leaders, including Congress president Rahul Gandhi, and convince them about the need to fight collectively against the BJP.

Earlier, Naidu "coincidentally" also met senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad at the Indira Gandhi International Airport here and briefly discussed about the need to bring all non-BJP parties together, TDP sources said.

This is the Andhra Pradesh chief minister's second visit to New Delhi in less than a week.

Last week, Naidu had met BSP chief Mayawati, Jammu and Kashmir National Conference president Farooq Abdullah and former BJP leader Yashwant Sinha here in the national capital.