New Delhi: Senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal hosting a dinner party on Monday night for opposition leaders is currently the talk of the town in the national capital. While many speculations are being made about this "informal meet", it is being said that the top leaders of over a dozen parties reaffirmed their commitment to strengthen the opposition unity and defeat the BJP, as quoted by PTI sources.
Reports suggest that the dinner meeting was held to chalk out strategies to unite the opposition against BJP for the upcoming election in Uttar Pradesh and general elections in 2024.
The dinner attended by political bigwigs from the party and like-minded parties created a buzz in political circles given Kapil Sibal's recent role in party affairs. He was the prime mover behind the letter written to interim party chief Sonia Gandhi by 'G23' calling for wide-ranging reforms and is also being said to have differences with Rahul Gandhi's leadership in the party.
Those who arrived for the dinner at Sibal's Teen Murti Marg residence included NCP supremo Sharad Pawar, Trinamool Congress's Derek O'Brien, DMK's Tiruchi Siva, RLD President Jayant Chaudhary, Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav, accompanied by his senior party leader Prof Ram Gopal Yadav, RJD supremo Lalu Prasad, besides Congress leaders Manish Tewari, Shashi Tharoor, and Anand Sharma.
While Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is on a two-day tour to Srinagar, the party's interim chief Sonia Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi who is being called as the flag bearer of the party for Uttar Pradesh elections were also missing.
However, prominent among missing leaders was Ghulam Nabi Azad who was also one of the Congress leaders pushing for reforms in the party.
Almost all the members of the 'Group of 23' who had written to Congress chief Sonia Gandhi seeking an organisational overhaul were present at the dinner meeting.
"Such meetings should be organised more frequently to ensure that the unity is strengthened further. We have to defeat the BJP in Uttar Pradesh first in 2022 and then in general elections of 2024," said an opposition leader, who was present during the meet, as quoted by PTI.
IANS sources said that the meeting was nothing to do with politics but was gathering a day after Sibal turned 73, while sources close to the leaders said that this is a part of the opposition regrouping ahead of the crucial Assembly polls next year.
Many opposition leaders applauded the fact that Sibal, who is legal luminary, succeeded in bringing so many opposition leaders together due to his personal rapport with them but was the meeting as a show of strength to threaten the Congress leadership of Gandhis, or it was the entire opposition uniting to fight against BJP is likely to be revealed in the upcoming UP assembly elections.