Sink differences to defeat Modi: Cong

Senior Congress leader Sonia Gandhi has set the agenda for her dinner meeting with Opposition leaders on Tuesday, aiming to sink differences at the local level and come together to defeat Narendra Modi-led BJP.

Gandhi has sent invites to leaders of most of the non-BJP Opposition parties to join her to coordinate strategies to corner the Modi government in Parliament during the Budget Session.

The meeting comes against the backdrop of attempts by Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekar Rao to form a non-BJP, non-Congress third front, an initiative that has been welcomed by Trinamool Congress and some other regional parties.

A Congress leader said there is a lot of anxiety among the regional outfits due to the muscle flexing by the BJP in the aftermath of its electoral successes in the north-east and the initiative by Gandhi would help in keeping the Opposition flock together.

The bypolls to the two Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh Phulpur and Gorakhpurâ on Sunday are expected to set the tone of Opposition politics for the Lok Sabha elections next year.

Mayawati-led BSP has taken an unprecedented stand and announced support to candidates put up by arch-rival Samajwadi Party for both the seats in a bid to stop the BJP juggernaut.

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An SP victory in at least one of the seats is expected to give a fillip to Opposition efforts to take on Modi next year.

Speaking at the India Today Conclave in Mumbai on Friday, Gandhi admitted the pressure various political parties, including the Congress, face when it came to working with like-minded parties.

"But if all of us think of the larger picture...if we feel and care for the country, we have to sink local differences," Gandhi said.