Who'll form the Opposition? Sharad Pawar chairs meeting for LS polls

The recent meetings of the Opposition parties have been quite intriguing. On Monday, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar chaired a meeting of Opposition parties to discuss their strategy and preparedness for the Lok Sabha polls. However, Pawar was politely told by the Congress leaders Ghulam Nabi Azad and Anand Sharma and former Congress president Sonia Gandhi that the Congress will take the lead in putting together a broad platform of anti-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) parties. On a Thursday meeting of the Opposition parties convened by Sonia Gandhi, members were intrigued at the ‘dhokli’ — idli-shaped dhoklas, served for refreshments. They attributed this to the Congress’ ‘success’ in Gujarat and its ambitions in the south. “There were also non-vegetarian dishes, including fish, along with vegetarian fare. This is a big reason why parties like us from West Bengal can never align with the vegetarian BJP,” a Trinamool Congress member quipped.