No national alliance against BJP possible without Cong, says Pawar

Ignoring the Congress is not the right step while initiating the process of bringing together non-BJP parties, said Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar.

“The process which we want to initiate to bring non-BJP parties together, we want to take the process forward along with the Congress. It will not be right to ignore Congress,” Pawar told reporters in Mumbai.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had written to her non-BJP counterparts and other opposition leaders on March 27, urging them to come together and unitedly fight the saffron party.

When asked about it, Pawar said that the Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief had spoken to him on the issue.

“We have not spoken to other people. We will have to ask the Chief Ministers of nine to ten states. We will have to ask them (for a convenient) date and discuss the venue (for the meeting),” Pawar said.

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Banerjee, who had written the letter as the TMC chairperson, called for a meeting to discuss strategies to take on the BJP, and commit to the cause of unified and principled opposition, that will make way for the “government that the country deserves”.

In a letter dated March 27, Banerjee had said that the BJP government used central agencies to target political opponents “just when elections are around the corner”.

“I urge that every one of us come together for a meeting to deliberate on the way forward at a place as per everyone’s convenience and suitability. The need of the hour is for all progressive forces in this country to come together and fight this oppressive force,” Banerjee wrote.

(With inputs from Agencies)