NCP chief Sharad Pawar calls meet of opposition leaders on June 22

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar will host a meeting of non-Congress opposition parties on June 22, news reports suggest.

The meeting, which is expected to be attended by NCP's Majeed Memon and Samajwadi Party's Ghanshyam Tiwari among others, is likely to see discussions around strategy for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

The invitation has been extended to 15 opposition parties, but a few of them so far have confirmed participation, reports news agency IANS. The Congress has not yet said yes to the meet.

According to news agency PTI, former finance minister and now a TMC leader Yashwant Sinha, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Manoj Jha and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Sanjay Singh are also expected to call on Pawar on Tuesday.

The announcement comes the day Pawar met poll strategist Prashant Kishor in Delhi for the second time in two weeks amid speculation about a plan for "Mission 2024" to fight the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance in the next national election. They had last met on June 11 at Sharad Pawar's Mumbai home for three hours.

When asked about Pawar meeting Kishor again, NCP spokesperson Nawab Malik said, "Pawar is working to unite all opposition leaders. May be, the meeting was to discuss it. The party's national executive meeting is also taking place in the national capital tomorrow."

Rashtra Manch is a coaltion of opposition parties formed by former finance minister Yashwant Sinha in 2018 to take on the BJP-led Centre.