A meeting of opposition leaders from many anti-BJP parties, all except the Left being regional forces, hosted by the veteran leader and NCP president Sharad Pawar on Tuesday is being seen by political pundits as a beginning of an exercise by them to join forces to put up a more cohesive challenge to the saffron party.
The meeting participants were, however, at pains to downplay its political import, more so as such attempts of unity among regional parties have often come unstuck, and projected it as an interaction among "like-minded people" under the aegis of Yashwant Singh's Rashtra Manch, an apolitical grouping with distinct anti-BJP views.
However, no one can overlook the fact that it was hosted by Pawar at his residence and comes close on the heels of the astute politician's recent meetings with political strategist Prashant Kishor, including one just a day before, political watchers feel.
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