After meeting Prashant Kishor, Sharad Pawar to host Oppn leaders tomorrow
NCP chief Sharad Pawar on Tuesday will host a meeting of leaders from several parties and ’eminent personalities’ to discuss the current scenario in the country, NCP spokesperson and minister in the Maharashtra government Nawab Malik said in a tweet.
The development comes hours after Pawar met poll strategist Prashant Kishor for the second time this month. The meeting, which was held at the NCP chief’s residence in Pune, lasted for over two hours and has further fuelled speculation that a Third Front could be in the works to take on the BJP.
“Tomorrow Tuesday 22nd June 2021 at 11:30 am, our party President Sharad Pawar saheb will host a meeting at his residence at 6, Janpath in New Delhi,” Malik said in a tweet. However, he later said that the meeting has been rescheduled to 4 PM.
Tomorrow Tuesday 22nd June 2021 at 11:30 am, our party President Sharad Pawar saheb will host a meeting at his residence at 6, Janpath in New Delhi.
The following prominent political leaders and eminent persons from different sections of society will attend the meeting to (1/3)— Nawab Malik نواب ملک नवाब मलिक (@nawabmalikncp) June 21, 2021
The meeting will be attended by National Conference leader and former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir Farooq Abdullah, TMC leader Yashwant Sinha, Sanjay Singh from AAP, D Raja from CPI and Sanjay Jha, Malik said.
Besides politicians, eminent people from various fields, such as senior advocate KTS Tulsi, former chief election commissioner SY Qureshi, former ambassador KC Singh, lyricist Javed Akhtar, advocate Colin Gonsalves, filmmaker Pritish Nandi and media personalities Karan Thapar and Ashutosh will attend Tuesday’s meeting, Malik added.
However, Yashwant Sinha later in a tweet said that Pawar is hosting a meeting of the ‘Rashtra Manch’, a political action group floated by the former BJP leader in 2018 that targeted the Modi government’s policies.
We shall have a meeting of the Rashtra Manch tomorrow at 4 pm. Sri Sharad Pawar has kindly agreed to host the meeting at his place.
— Yashwant Sinha (@YashwantSinha) June 21, 20210
When asked about the NCP chief’s meeting with the poll strategist, Malik said that Pawar is working to unite all opposition leaders. “Maybe, the meeting was to discuss it. The party’s national executive meeting is also taking place in the national capital tomorrow,” Malik was quoted as saying by PTI.
Earlier, Kishor had described his meeting with Pawar as a “goodwill” tour and a part of a “thanksgiving visit” to all those leaders who had expressed solidarity with the Trinamool Congress and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee during the Assembly elections in that state, for which Kishor had helped craft the election strategy.
Pawar has recently recovered after his convalescence following a gall bladder procedure in late April. His slew of meetings have rekindled hope among some in his party that the 82-year-old is working to stitch together a grand coalition before the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
As reported by The Indian Express earlier, a party insider had said there is a demand that Pawar should take the initiative to bring all regional and non-BJP parties together under one banner.
Talks that NCP may be considering roping in Kishor for the next polls have also emerged, though the latter has already announced that West Bengal was his last innings as an election strategist.
