Sonia Gandhi likely to chair opposition meet on August 20

New Delhi, Aug 13: Congress president Sonia Gandhi has called a virtual meeting with top Opposition leaders on August 20. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin among others have been invited.

NCP chief Sharad Pawar, Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren, CPI general secretary D. Raja and CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury will also be part of the meeting.

The meeting assumes significance as Gandhi wanted to keep the spirit going in terms of Opposition unity and also signals that the Congress is ready to join the Opposition parties in the run-up to the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, in a bid to stop Narendra Modi.

Reportedly, a virtual meeting was likely to be followed by a physical meeting in September, either as a dinner or a lunch get-together.

Confirming the news, Maharashtra Chief Minister and Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray said he will attend the meeting of opposition leaders called by Congress president Sonia Gandhi on August 20.

Congress is part of the Sena-led ruling coalition in Maharashtra along with the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). The NCP's chief spokesperson Nawab Malik said he didn't know whether the Sharad Pawar-led party had been invited or if it was going to attend the meeting.

Sonia Gandhi's meeting also comes in the wake of a dinner hosted by senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal, one of the Congress's group of 23 dissenters. The presence of top political leaders at Sibal's birthday party created political buzz.

Few political leaders are also of the opinion that Kapil's opposition meeting string message to the leadership of the Gandhis.