NEW DELHI: Hours after the Uttar Pradesh Lok Sabha bypoll results were announced, Congress president
Rahul Gandhi met NCP chief
Sharad Pawar on Wednesday evening, presumably to discuss the possibility of a united front.
Samajwadi Party winning both the bypoll seats of
Phulpur and
Gorakhpur will, no doubt, prove to be a morale booster for all those seeking to halt the momentum of the BJP, which following the recent northeast assembly election results appeared to be looking invincible.
Rahul had received some praise from the NCP leader last month, who said the Congress party chief was showing an inclination to “learn and understand” the issues facing the nation.
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A day before the results were announced, in more signs that efforts were on in full swing to unite against a common enemy, 20 opposition parties came together at a dinner hosted by Congress leader Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday. The dinner was the first concrete attempt to forge an anti-BJP alliance for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
Sharad Pawar was among those who attended the dinner party, along with leaders of Trinamool Congress, Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party, DMK, RJD, JMM and the Left among others. In the absence of Mamata Banerjee, the TMC was represented by Sudip Bandopadhyay. Rahul Gandhi, former PM Manmohan Singh, Ghulam Nabi Azad and Ahmed Patel were among the Congress biggies who were present in the lawns of 10, Janpath.
