New Delhi (13.08.2021): After the successful dinner meeting of former Union Minister Kapil Sibal, working president of the Congress party Sonia Gandhi will host a meeting of the like-minded political parties next week. All the opposition political parties which pushed the government on the back foot in the recently concluded monsoon session of Parliament will be invited to discuss the next strategy to take on the Narendra Modi government. Sources said that besides chief ministers of the Congress-ruled states, leaders of the states where the Congress party is in alliance with others would also be invited. They included Tamil Nadu chief minister M K Stalin (DMK), Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray (Shiv Sena), Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren (JMM) are some of the prominent leaders in the list. The Shiv Sena has already confirmed that it would participate in the meeting for which August 20 has been decided as the tentative date. But sources said that the date may be rescheduled as per the convenience of Trinamool Congress chief and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee. Leaders from other like-minded parties will also be appointed to attend the meeting. This is significant in view of the meeting organized by the dissenting voices of the Congress popularly known as Group 23. The dinner meeting organized by Kapil Sibal, one of its members, was attended by 45 political leaders of 15 political parties. Some surprising names in the list of invitees by Sibal were Shiromani Akali Dal attended by Naresh Gujaral, Biju Janata Dal, Shiv Sena by Sanjay Raut. However, some of the opposition leaders are averse to the leadership of Gandhis. Rahul Gandhi too had recently organized an All-Party meeting when Parliament was in session which too was successful. Will Gandhis be able to lead the opposition is a big question however the Congress strategist Prashant Kishor is of the view that any opposition unity at pan India level is not possible without the Congress.
Dinner diplomacy: Congress leading from the front
By IndianMandarins - 2021-08-13 12:33:00
New Delhi (13.08.2021): After the successful dinner meeting of former Union Minister Kapil Sibal, working president of the Congress party Sonia Gandhi will host a meeting of the like-minded political parties next week. All the opposition political parties which pushed the government on the back foot in the recently concluded monsoon session of Parliament will be invited to discuss the next strategy to take on the Narendra Modi government.
Sources said that besides chief ministers of the Congress-ruled states, leaders of the states where the Congress party is in alliance with others would also be invited. They included Tamil Nadu chief minister M K Stalin (DMK), Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray (Shiv Sena), Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren (JMM) are some of the prominent leaders in the list. The Shiv Sena has already confirmed that it would participate in the meeting for which August 20 has been decided as the tentative date.
But sources said that the date may be rescheduled as per the convenience of Trinamool Congress chief and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee. Leaders from other like-minded parties will also be appointed to attend the meeting. This is significant in view of the meeting organized by the dissenting voices of the Congress popularly known as Group 23. The dinner meeting organized by Kapil Sibal, one of its members, was attended by 45 political leaders of 15 political parties.
Some surprising names in the list of invitees by Sibal were Shiromani Akali Dal attended by Naresh Gujaral, Biju Janata Dal, Shiv Sena by Sanjay Raut. However, some of the opposition leaders are averse to the leadership of Gandhis. Rahul Gandhi too had recently organized an All-Party meeting when Parliament was in session which too was successful. Will Gandhis be able to lead the opposition is a big question however the Congress strategist Prashant Kishor is of the view that any opposition unity at pan India level is not possible without the Congress.
