New Delhi: With the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-Telugu Desam Party (TDP) alliance suffering a severe setback in Andhra Pradesh Assembly polls, top leaders of the saffron party, including Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, tonight (May 11, 2004) discussed the evolving political situation with National Democratic Alliance (NDA) convenor George Fernandes as they exuded confidence of forming the Government.

"We have taken note of the fact that we have lost the Assembly polls in Andhra Pradesh. We are sure that in spite of that, the NDA will get the required majority to form the Government. We are not talking to any parties," BJP president M Venkaiah Naidu told reporters in New Delhi.

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After a 90-minute meeting at the residence of the Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Naidu said the meeting discussed the poling trends and feedback from State units and came to the conclusion that the NDA would get the required majority to form the Government.

"We decided to meet on May 13 evening and discuss the steps to proceed towards Government formation," he said.

The BJP chief said the leaders expressed surprise over reports of NDA talking to prospective allies.

"We are not talking to any party. If needed, only after May 13 we will discuss. Some leaders may have discussed locally, but as an NDA or BJP we have not talked to any party as results have yet to come," Naidu said.

Naidu said no other party was anywhere near the majority and there was, therefore, no need to discuss any alternative situation.

Asked about reports that NDA would prefer to sit in the Opposition if it got less than 250 seats, he shot back, "The report has no support. Some interested sections of the media are indulging in speculation."

On the Andhra Pradesh Assembly poll results, he said, "The result was not up to our expectation. It was a vote for change. N Chandrababu Naidu did his best and we humbly accept the verdict and we stand by Naidu."

Asked about the party's stand on Telangana issue, he said, "Let the Government be formed, then we will take a stand."

Meanwhile, party sources said the meeting expressed concern over the huge losses in Andhra Pradesh and felt that Government formation would not be an easy exercise without matching gains from other states.

Among those who were present at the meeting were Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani, Finance Minister Jaswant Singh, Law Minister Arun Jaitley, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, party general secretaries Pramod Mahajan and Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi.