Mission 2019: 20 Opposition parties, Sonia Gandhi talk unity over dinner

New Delhi: Leaders of 20 opposition parties on Tuesday night got together at a dinner hosted by UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, where possibilities of putting up a united front to defeat the BJP in the next general elections were discussed.

The move is being seen as an attempt to forge opposition unity to defeat the BJP-led NDA.

According to sources, leaders of NCP, RJD, Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party, Trinamul, DMK and Left parties attended the dinner among others.

The prominent leaders in attendance were NCP's Sharad Pawar, SP's Ram Gopal Yadav, BSP's Satish Chandra Misra and former chief ministers Omar Abdullah, Babulal Marandi, Hemant Soren and Jiten Ram Manjhi, besides JD(U)'s Sharad Yadav and RLD's Ajit Singh.

The others present included Trinamul Sudip Bandyopadhyay, CPM’s D. Raja and Mohammad Salim, DMK's Kanimozhi, AIUDF's Baddrauddin Ajmal and leaders of Kerala Congress, besides Kupender Reddy of the JD-S.

Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Manmohan Singh, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Mallikarjun Kharge, Ahmed Patel, AK Antony and Randeep Surjewala were among the Congress leaders present.

Leaders of Andhra Pradesh's ruling Telugu Desam which recently pulled out its ministers in the Modi government but continues to be a constituent of the NDA, the BJD, and the TRS were not invited. The BJD and the TRS rule Odisha and Telangana respectively.

The dinner was hosted at the 10 Janpath residence where the leaders discussed the possibilities of all opposition parties getting together on one platform to defeat the BJP in 2019 Lok Sabha elections, sources said.

Sonia Gandhi had earlier called for opposition unity, saying parties should set aside their differences to get together in the larger interest of keeping the BJP out of power.

Congress communications incharge Randeep Surjewala said the dinner was not organised for politics, but for amity and friendship among opposition parties.