No opposition front possible without Congress: Sanjay Raut after meeting Rahul Gandhi

Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut met Rahul Gandhi in New Delhi and later asserted there can be no opposition front without the Congress remarks coming in the wake of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjees statement questioning the existence of the antiBJP combine UPAThe two leaders also discussed the United Progressive Alliance UPA which is led by Congress The Shiv Sena a former BJP ally is not part of the alliance which was in power at the Centre between 2004 and 2014 Raut declined to share details about the meeting but said the two leaders also discussed the status of the UPAldquoThere was a discussion about the UPA It is not right to comment on it I will talk to Uddhavji Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray and then speak to you the mediardquo Raut told reporters after meeting Gandhi in New Delhi When asked how the opposition parties are coming together to take on the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls Raut said efforts for this are onldquoI have told Rahulji to take a lead in this and work towards it There can be no opposition front without the Congress What will twothree fronts of opposition dordquo the Rajya Sabha MP said Raut said the Sena has already stated that no opposition front is not possible without the Congress ldquoI have not talked about any leader leading the front I am only saying there should be only one front If there are twothree fronts then it cannot be an alternative Only then can we present an alternative to the BJPrdquo he stressedHis meeting with Gandhi comes days after Banerjee visited Mumbai and made comments questioning the very existence of the UPA During the visit she also met Maharashtra minister Aaditya Thackeray and NCP president Sharad Pawar The Congress and the NCP are constituents of the Shiv Senaled MVA government in MaharashtraBanerjees meeting with opposition leaders came amid strain in ties between her party TMC and the Congress After its landslide victory in West Bengal earlier this year the TMC has inducted several Congress leaders in its fold In Meghalaya 12 out of 17 Congress MLAs defected to the TMC making it the principal opposition partyIn Mumbai Banerjee had said there was no UPA and made a pitch for unifying opposition parties to take on the Bharatiya Janata Party BJP at the Centre When asked how can the Congress and TMC be brought together when the relations between the two are strained Raut said Pawar will play a role in thisIn his weekly column in Sena mouthpiece Saamana on Sunday Raut claimed that Banerjee was contemplating an alliance excluding the Congress He added that Gandhi will be visiting Mumbai soon Raut said he is meeting Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Wednesday and the two will discuss about national politicsAlso Read Mamata Banerjee contemplating alliance excluding Congress Sanjay RautArchrivals in the state until 2019 the the Sena and the Congress came together along with the NCP to form the Maha Vikas Aghadi MVA government in the stateThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever