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

After the meeting, Abdullah 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."