Sharad Pawar, the head of the Nationalist Congress Party, will hold a gathering of opposition parties at his house in Delhi on Tuesday, according to party leader and Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik.
Pawar would meet with political leaders and “eminent individuals” at his Delhi house at 11.30 a.m. to discuss the country’s condition, according to Malik.
Sanjay Singh of the Aam Aadmi Party, D Raja of the Communist Party of India, Farooq Abdullah of the National Conference, Justice AP Singh, lyricist and poet Javed Akhtar, writer Karan Thapar, and attorney Colin Gonsalves are among those invited.
According to NDTV, Pawar and former BJP leader Yashwant Sinha, who has since joined the Trinamool Congress, extended invites to the parties for the meeting.
“Sharad Pawar ji and Shri Yashwant Sinha ji are co-chairing a discussion on the present national scenario,” reads the invite sent out by Rashtra Manch, headed by Sinha. “Yashwant Sinha has requested your kind presence and participation in the meeting.”
According to News18, the Rashtra Manch is an alliance of Opposition parties created in 2018 to oppose Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government’s policies. Pawar will be attending the outfit’s gathering for the first time.
“Everyone has the right to do anything they want in a democracy… When asked about the Congress not being invited, Maharashtra Congress leader Nana Patole said NDTV, “We won’t block anyone.” “However, without the Congress, there can be no front.”
Pawar met with electoral strategist Prashant Kishor in Delhi earlier in the day for the second time in two weeks. They last met for three hours on June 11 at Pawar’s Mumbai residence amid rumours of a plot for “Mission 2024” to combat the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance.
The meeting takes place at a time when opposition parties are pondering how to form a third front in the run-up to the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. In addition, the politicians are expected to address the upcoming Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections next year.
Unidentified sources informed NDTV that “certain parts of the BJP are secretly supporting Pawar,” who “understands that PM Modi’s popularity is plummeting and that there is a need to take on the BJP.”
