Sonia Gandhi to meet Opposition leaders today; Sharad Pawar, Mamata Banerjee to attend

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi addressing other Opposition leaders amid the Monsoon Session of Parliament. (Image: Twitter/@RahulGandhi)

Congress president Sonia Gandhi will meet at least 18 Opposition leaders including West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on August 20.

The virtual meeting, scheduled at 4:30 pm, is aimed at putting up a united Opposition front on reaching out to people on the economic slowdown, the alleged mismanagement of the COVID-19, the Pegasus Project row, and the farmers’ protest, according to sources.

NCP chief Sharad Pawar, Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren, former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister and National Conference chairman Farooq Abdullah, former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda, and other leaders are also expected to attend the meeting.

The meeting comes days after Opposition parties displayed unity against the government during the Monsoon Session of Parliament that concluded two days ahead of schedule on August 11. The virtual meeting will be followed by a physical meeting, in form of a lunch or dinner, next month, the reports said.

READ: "Murder of democracy," says Rahul Gandhi at Opposition's march to protest Monsoon Session's curtailment

Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and former National Democratic Alliance (NDA) ally Shiromani Akali Dal have not been invited to the meeting.

“This Parliament session was one of the worst in history. Almost none of the people’s issues were discussed in it. Now, we are meeting to decide how to take these issues to the people. We will discuss the COVID-19 mismanagement, economic situation, Pegasus, farmers’ protests and the struggle of the workers in the wake of privatisation,” Communist Party of India (Marxist leader Sitaram Yechury, was quoted as saying in a report in Hindustan Times.

Opposition parties displayed unity during the Parliament session by disrupting the proceedings in both houses over the Pegasus Project report, rising fuel prices, and farmers’ protests.

The meeting also comes amid a resignation spree that Congress is facing. Sushmita Dev, the former chief of the party's women's wing joined the TMC this week.

Also, read: Resignation spree continues in Congress; Here is a list of leaders who quit the party in recent months

The opposition has accused the government of not allowing debates on important issues in the House. The government on its part held the Opposition responsible for hampering the functioning of the Parliament.

Rajiv Gandhi
77th Birth Anniversary

Delighted that Sonia Gandhi is set to meet Opposition leaders on this day to discuss issues that matter

Rajiv Gandhi ushered India’s era of modernisation and launched the technology revolution

We remember him with love

— Kapil Sibal (@KapilSibal) August 20, 2021

The last such meeting was held at the home of Congress leader Kapil Sibal. The Gandhis were not present at the meeting though.