The show of opposition unity would not stop at Congress leader Sonia Gandhi's dinner tomorrow, but would continue at NCP chief Sharad Pawar's residence at the end of this month, senior NCP leaders have said. According to top NCP sources, Sharad Pawar has called a meet of all opposition leaders, including the Congress, to discuss a strategy for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. NCP leader Praful Patel has already met Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee in Kolkata and invited her to attend the meet. After the meeting with Banerjee last week, Patel had told reporters that the idea of having a federal front in the future was discussed between them. According to TMC sources, Banerjee, who would not be able to attend Gandhi's dinner due to prior commitments, has confirmed her attendance at Pawar's meeting. Even though Banerjee had been advocating a non-BJP non-Congress front, Pawar has invited the Congress as well, NCP sources said. Mamata Banerjee had recently spoken to several key regional party leaders to renew the focus on efforts at forming a non-BJP platform. "The NCP and Pawar feel that without the Congress, there can not be any opposition front against the BJP.
So even the Congress has been invited for the meet," a top NCP leader told reporters. The meeting is likely to be held on either March 27 or 28. Though attendance of various other opposition party heads are yet to be confirmed, it is known that the NCP president is likely to invite TRS chief K Chandrasekhar Rao for the meet.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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