Mamata Banerjee to meet Sonia Gandhi after INDIA bloc unity push

Mamata Banerjee is set to hold a closed-door meeting with Sonia Gandhi following the INDIA bloc meeting, amid discussions on opposition coordination and challenges facing the Trinamool Congress after its recent electoral setback

New Delhi: A day after an opposition INDIA bloc meeting stressed unity and better coordination among the alliance partners, Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee is set to meet Congress leader Sonia Gandhi at her 10, Janpath residence on Tuesday.

Sources said the two leaders are expected to discuss the strategy between the two parties going forward after the opposition bloc meeting, and following an exodus of Trinamool members after the party’s defat to the BJP in the recent Bengal polls.

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The meeting comes after Sonia Gandhi, the chairperson of the Congress Parliamentary Party, and Banerjee met each other warmly with a hug at the opposition bloc’s meeting here on Monday.

The Congress shared pictures of the bonhomie between the two leaders. The meeting comes in the wake of a rebellion within the Trinamool, with several party MPs deciding to form a separate group and align with the ruling NDA.

This would be the first closed-door meeting between Banerjee and Gandhi after Trinamool’s defeat in the polls, and alleged attacks on party workers and MP Abhishek Banerjee after the elections.