Secular parties, including Congress, must come together to remove BJP: Deve Gowda

Janata Dal (Secular) chief and former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda of Thursday slammed BJP government for creating many problems "including destabilising constitutionally created institutes," news agency ANI reported. 

He added that secular parties, including the Congress, must come together to replace the NDA government. 

Gowda's comments came shortly after a meeting with Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu earlier in the day.

"Andhra Pradesh CM N Chandrababu Naidu has taken the lead and met several leaders to consolidate all secular parties to remove NDA government in 2019. He met me and HD Kumaraswamy today to work out further strategy," Gowda noted. 

TDP supremo and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, who is trying to unite opposition parties to take on BJP in the Lok Sabha elections next year, met former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda and Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy on Thursday.

Interestingly, Naidu's meeting with the JD(S) supremo comes in the backdrop of Congress-JD(S) coalition resolving to contest the 2019 Lok Sabha elections together against the BJP, buoyed by the victory in the bypolls.

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

BJP had managed to hold on to the Shivamogga Lok Sabha seat.

The electoral sweep by the ruling coalition comes as a boost to it as the by-polls were seen as a barometer of the public mood ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

(With inputs from agencies)