Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut on Saturday said that work is on to bring all opposition parties together at the national level, and this alliance will be incomplete without the Congress. He said that the Congress will play an important role in the alliance that aims to provide a strong alternative to the present dispensation.

Raut's statements come four days after leaders of eight opposition parties, including TMC, SP, AAP, RLD and the Left, assembled at NCP chief Sharad Pawar's residence in New Delhi and discussed various issues facing the country. Speculation has been rife that the agenda of the meeting, for which no Congress leader was present, was to discuss a possible alliance which could be an alternative to the BJP.