Chandrababu Naidu meets Akhilesh, Maya

Andhra Pradesh chief minister and TDP chief N.Chandrababu Naidu on Saturday met Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav and BSP supremo Mayawati to discuss the formation of a non-BJP government at the centre in the event of the NDA falling short of the majority mark after the Lok Sabha polls results.

Naidu drove straight to Akhilesh's residence and held a meeting with him during which the two leaders reportedly discussed the post-poll alliance of ''secular'' parties.

SP sources said that Akhilesh told Naidu that his party was ready to cooperate with the opposition parties to prevent the BJP from coming to power in the event of a hung verdict.

Naidu later met Mayawati at latter's residence here and deliberated on the issue of cooperation among the opposition parties.

It was not clear if Akhilesh and Mayawati, who had made it clear that they would not take part in any deliberations on government formation before the announcement of the election result, agreed to take part in the meeting convened by former Congress president Sonia Gandhi.

Sources said that Mayawati was not in favour of giving Congress the leading role in government formation if the NDA failed to get the required numbers.

Mayawati had attacked the Congress in her election rallies during the Lok Sabha polls campaign.

Akhilesh, however, might not have any problem in supporting the Congress, sources said.

Naidu had earlier met Congress president Rahul Gandhi, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and other opposition leaders in the national capital.