Uniting opposition? Mamata Banerjee to meet Sonia Gandhi, Sharad Pawar in Delhi

NEW DELHI: A day after her arrival in the national capital, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will on Tuesday meet several Opposition leaders including Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar and former Congress president Sonia Gandhi to discuss ways to take on the Narendra Modi-led government inside and outside Parliament.

The Trinamool Congress chief is also expected to meet Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

During her meeting with Pawar, Banerjee is expected to discuss the current political situation. Pawar had convened a meeting of opposition parties in January this year.

There have been suggestions that the opposition parties should put up common candidates against the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. 

There also have been efforts to form a third front of parties that want to be equidistant from both BJP and Congress. 

The veteran Trinamool leader is expected to visit Parliament House and meet "her old colleagues, party MPs and leaders of other political parties", a senior Trinamool leader had said on Monday.

"Delhi is a part of India and I visit the capital whenever Parliament is in session. Tomorrow there will be a meeting in the central hall, then we will talk," Mamata had said on arrival.

Banerjee is seen as a key player in the possible grouping of non-BJP political parties ahead of the next Lok Sabha elections.

Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) chief and Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, who is keen on a third front, had met Banerjee earlier this month. 

Here's a tentative schedule of Mamata Banerjee's trip to Delhi:

March 27, morning: Mamata will go to Parliament and meet leaders at the Central Hall

March 27, evening: She will go to Sharad Pawar's residence for a meeting of opposition parties

March 28: The Chief Minister will meet Sonia Gandhi at her residence

Mamata, however, has maintained that her trip to Delhi is strictly a personal visit as she is concerned about Sonia's health. Reports suggest that she is also expected to meet Congress president Rahul Gandhi.

(With inputs from IANS)