Sharad Pawar hosts meeting of opposition leaders

New Delhi, June 22

Leaders of several opposition parties including TMC, SP, AAP, RLD and the Left assembled at NCP chief Sharad Pawar’s residence here on Tuesday and discussed various issues facing the country, amid intense speculation about the possibility of a third front against the ruling BJP.

However, leaders who took part in the discussions asserted that it was a “non-political” meeting of like-minded individuals by Rashtriya Manch that was floated by former finance minister and TMC vice-president Yashwant Sinha along with others.

NCP leader Majid Menon said it was not a meeting for forming an anti-BJP front or a non-Congress front.

The meeting lasted more than two hours and was attended by Omar Abdullah from National Conference, Samajwadi Party’s (SP) Ghanshyam  Tiwari, Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) president Jayant Chaudhary, Sushil Gupta from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Binoy Viswam from the Communist Party of India (CPI), Nilotpal Basu from CPI(M) and Sinha among others.

Former Congress leader Sanjay Jha and former Janata Dal (United) leader Pavan Verma also participated.

Besides politicians, several eminent personalities such as Javed Akhtar, Ambassador KC Singh, Justice (retd.) AP Shah were also present at the meeting.

Addressing reporters after the meeting, Menon, who is one of the founders of the Manch, said it was a non-political meeting and was not called by Sharad Pawar.

“It was not an anti-BJP political front meeting called by Sharad Pawar. It was a meeting of Rashtriya Manch held at his residence. Like-minded individuals or people with the same ideology attended the meeting and there were several apolitical personalities present in the meeting,” Menon said.

He also dismissed reports stating that an attempt is being made to form a non-Congress front.

There is no such attempt, he said, adding five Congress MPs including Kapil Sibal, Vivek Tankha, Manish Tewari and Abhishek Manu Singhvi were invited for the meeting but due to some pressing issues, they could not attend.

Similar sentiments were expressed by CPI (M) leader Basu after the meeting saying that it was an interaction among like-minded people and should not be seen as a political meeting.

He said several issues such as “COVID management, ‘attack’ on institutions and unemployment, and rising inflation among others were discussed.

Earlier in the day, a senior Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader, on the condition of anonymity, said though Pawar is hosting the meeting, it has been organised by former BJP leader Yashwant Sinha who is the convenor of the Rashtra Manch.

Sinha formed the Rashtra Manch, a political action group, in 2018 that targeted the BJP-led government’s policies.

Octogenarian Pawar is one of the senior-most politicians in the country and enjoys a good rapport with political parties across the board.

It was due to his efforts that ideologically opposite Shiv Sena and Congress joined hands along with the NCP to form government in Maharashtra.

The meeting, which was attended by leaders from several non-Congress opposition parties and eminent personalities who have been critical of the Modi government, further fuelled speculation of a third front to take on the BJP-led NDA juggernaut in the elections.

On Monday, poll strategist Prashant Kishor had met Pawar at his residence and the NCP had said that the Maratha strongman is trying to unite the opposition.

 NCP national executive meets 

Meanwhile, NCP's national executive also met to discuss current national issues, the party’s future policies, and its role in the 2024 Lok Sabha election.

The meeting was chaired by NCP supremo Sharad Pawar and attended by party leaders Supriya Sule, Praful Patel, and Sunil Tatkare among others.

The meeting, which was held at Pawar’s residence here, lasted for about two hours.

The future goals of the party were discussed in detail at the meeting, Pawar said in a series of tweets in Marathi and English.

“I had a detailed discussion with my committee members on our future policies, our role in the next Lok Sabha (polls) and current national issues,” he said.

Among various issues, the meeting also discussed the local body elections to be held in Mumbai next year, Patel said.

“The party’s work was evaluated at the meeting, which also discussed the state elections to be held next year,” the Rajya Sabha MP told reporters.

Rahul Gandhi parries

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday parried questions on the meeting on a possible third front, saying today is not the time to discuss politics.

Gandhi, who held a virtual press conference on the pandemic situation, said he wanted to focus on Covid and how to save the country from the third wave of coronavirus which may hit soon.

"On the political aspect, my intention here is to bring focus on Covid. My intention here is to point clearly in the direction where we think the government should act," said the Congress leader who released a white paper of the party on Covid management.

"So, I am not going to distract you or myself by getting into, you know, what is going on in the politics and what is going on here and there.

 "There is a time and place for that discussion and I am happy to talk to you at that time," he said when asked about a meeting of opposition leaders convened at the residence of NCP supremo Sharad Pawar here.

 — PTI