I/II. https://www.nationalheraldindia.com/politics/sonia-gandhis-dinner-diplomacy-opposition-turns-up-in-strength-20-opposition-parties
Sonia Gandhi’s dinner diplomacy: Opposition turns up in strengthVishwadeepak VISHWADEEPAK Updated: Mar 14th 2018, 07.26 AM 7.207 K Leaders from 20 Opposition parties at UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi’s dinner at her residence, 10 Janpath in Delhi on Tuesday, March 13 Photo courtesy: Twitter.com/rssurjewala As many as 20 Opposition parties attended Sonia Gandhi’s dinner in Delhi on Tuesday night, being seen as Sonia’s attempt to weave Opposition unity ahead of the Congress’ upcoming plenary session Arch rivals from among Opposition parties put up a united face at the dinner hosted by UPA chairperson and former Congress President Sonia Gandhi in Delhi on Tuesday, with an eye on defeating the BJP-led NDA in the next Lok Sabha elections. As many as 20 parties attended the dinner. Bitter political opponents in West Bengal, the Trinamool Congress was represented by Sudip Bandyopadhyay and the CPI(M) by Mohd Salim and TK Rangarajan. Another pair of traditional rivals who have shown recent bonhomie for the Uttar Pradesh Lok Sabha bypolls, the Samajwadi party represented by Ram Gopal Yadav and Bahujan Samaj Party represented by Satish Mishra, both attended the dinner at Sonia Gandhi’s residence, 10, Janpath. Ajit Singh of UP’s Rashtriya Lok Dal was also present. Other Left parties at the dinner included CPI, represented by D Raja and Revolutionary Socialist Party represented by NK Premchandran. Jharkhand’s main opposition leaders Hemant Soren of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) and Babulal Marandi of Jharkhand Vikas Morcha-Prajatantrik (JVM(P)) were also seen at the gathering. Besides former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress President Rahul Gandhi, Congress leaders Ahmed Patel, Ghulam Nabi Azad, AK Antony, Mallikarjun Kharge and Randeep Surjewala were also present. NCP leader Sharad Pawar along with Tariq Anwar and daughter of the DMK patriarch M Karunanidhi, M Kanimozhi was present, as was former Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir and JKNC leader Omar Abdullah, RJD leaders Misa Bharti and Tejashwi Yadav, Hindustani Awam Morcha leader Jitan Ram Manjhi and Indian Tribal Party leader Sharad Yadav. PK Kunhalikutty of IUML, Badruddin Ajmal of AIUDF, Jose K Mani of Kerala Congress and D Kupendra Reddy of the Janata Dal (Secular) also attended the dinner. The dinner for opposition parties is being seen as Sonia Gandhi’s attempt to weave a grand unity among opposition parties ahead of the Congress' upcoming plenary session. Seventeen opposition parties had come together against the BJP-led NDA during the presidential and vice-presidential elections last year and Sonia Gandhi has been holding occasional meetings to nurture the bonding. Congress leaders said the group was expanding with Manjhi and Marandi coming to attend the dinner. A Congress leader speaking on condition of anonymity said, “The dinner sends a message to allies that while Rahul is president of the Congress party, Sonia Gandhi would actively be part of negotiating a possible alliance before the elections.'' Snipped II. <<14 Mar, 12:38 In a major setback to the BJP, the party is now trailing in Gorakhpur constituency too. SP was leading in Phulpur constituency earlier, but now is leading in UP CM Yogi Adityanath's bastion Gorakhpur too. As per the latest reports, SP was leading in both, Phulpur and Gorakhpur constituency by 14,299 and 3,760 votes respectively. In Bihar, the RJD has been maintaining its lead in Jehanabad, whereas the BJP is ahead in Bhabhua and Araria constituencies.>> (Source: < https://www.latestly.com/india/politics/uttar-pradesh-bihar-bye-election-results-2018-live-news-updates-counting-of-votes-begin-in-gorakhpur-phulpur-araria-jehanabad-bhabhua-63298.html >.) -- Peace Is Doable -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to greenyouth+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send an email to greenyouth@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
