Sharad Pawar meets Prashant Kishor in Delhi; set to form third front

Political strategist Prashant Kishor on Monday called on NCP president Sharad Pawar at the latter's Delhi based residence and held talks with him for around two hours, setting tongues wagging in political circles.

New Delhi: Within two weeks, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) Supremo Sharad Pawar once again met poll strategist Prashant Kishor, creating a buzz of a national coalition against the ruling BJP. The closed-door meeting at Pawar's residence in Delhi lasted for more than 2 hours. This is the second meeting between the two as they met on June 11 in Mumbai, setting off speculations that the efforts are being made to create a third front in the country ahead of the 2024 General Elections.

Mr Pawar would use Rashtriya Manch as a platform to unite Opposition parties

Another meeting, that if of Rashtriya Manch, has been called tomorrow at 4 pm. The meeting will be held at Mr. Pawar's residence in Delhi and will be hosted by him and TMC's Yashwant Sinha. This will be the first physical meeting of Rashtriya Manch after the Covid-19 outbreak. As per the sources, 15 opposition parties have been called for the meeting. While Congress' Manish Tewari and Shatrughan Sinha are unlikely to participate in this meeting due to prior commitments, AAP's Sanjay Singh, RJD's Manoj Jha, NCP's Majeed Memon are expected to take part in the meeting. Rashtriya Manch was been launched by Yashwant Sinha, former Finance Minister, who was then in BJP, in the year 2018 to take on the BJP-led Center.

What is Rashtra Manch?

In 2018, TMC Vice President Yashwant Sinha launched the Rashtra Manch to discuss the economic, political and social situation in the country. In addition to opposition leaders, non-political people are also participating. The purpose of the Rashtra Manch is to raise a voice against the policies of the Central Government.

What says the NCP leader

Maharashtra Minister Nawab Malik, while explaining about the first meeting between the political strategist and Mr Pawar, he said that the latter wants to form a united front of opposition parties against the ruling BJP at the Centre. "There was no discussion on appointing him as a strategist of NCP. He is a strategist. He analyzes things in a different way. He shared his experience with Pawar Sahab. He must have shared the information of current political dynamics in the country. Pawar Sahab wants to unite Opposition parties. Efforts will be made towards forming a strong political front against BJP in the coming days."

He further said that the people of Uttar Pradesh have made up their minds to change the government in the upcoming elections. "In West Bengal people rejected BJP that had threatened local leaders to join it. Mukul Roy now rejoined TMC. There is a long list of MLAs and MPs in Bengal who want to join TMC. In Uttar Pradesh, people have decided to change the government," added Malik.

Prashant Kishor: A man with a sixth sense

Prashant Kishor once again proved his mettle in the recently concluded assembly elections in Tamil Nadu and West Bengal. TMC secured 213 seats in the recently concluded West Bengal Assembly elections while Bharatiya Janata Party won 77 seats. It is worth mentioning that Kishor had said on many platforms that he would quit the space if BJP won more than 100 seats in the West Bengal assembly polls. Interestingly, the results were as per his predictions.