Just hours after the Bharatiya Janata Party suffered setbacks in recently-concluded elections in by-polls across Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, Congress president Rahul Gandhi met Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar presumably to discuss political alliances.
Media reports suggested that Gandhi had floated the idea of increased cooperation between his party and NCP in Maharashtra to counter the ruling BJP-Shiv Sena alliance. Pawar’s daughter and Lok Sabha MP Supriya Sule is said to have been a part of this meeting as well.
The meeting assumes significance as Sharad Pawar, a Maratha strongman, had lauded Gandhi and his rise just a few weeks ago. He had said that the Congress chief had been showing inclination to “learn and understand” problems India is currently facing.
Pawar had also participated in a dinner hosted by UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi to bring around twenty opposition parties on a unified platform to create a grand anti-BJP political front. His party has been in talks with Congress lately to discuss possibilities of an alliance for by-polls and upcoming general elections for Maharashtra.