A day after Sonia dinner, Rahul meets Pawar

Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday met NCP chief Sharad Pawar as part of his efforts to reach out to leaders of like-minded parties with an eye on building up an anti-BJP front ahead of the elections next year.

Rahul is also expected to meet West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee when she visits Delhi on March 28 to underscore the need for a strong alliance to take on Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the elections next year.

Rahul's meeting with Pawar came a day after UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi's dinner for Opposition leaders that was attended by representatives of 20 political parties. The dinner took place against the backdrop of logjam in Parliament, which has witnessed continuous disruptions since the start of the second part of the Budget Session on March 5.

Rahul also had long discussions with Trinamool Congress leaders Saugata Roy and Sugata Basu during which he told them that he would start reaching out to leaders of like-minded political parties after the AICC plenary scheduled for this weekend.

The Congress president's initiative comes at a time when Mamata and Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao have thrown in their hats in the ring for the leadership role of a non-Congress, non-BJP alliance for the Lok Sabha elections next year.

Pawar had also taken the lead in gathering leaders of political parties against the Modi government in Mumbai, an initiative that was received well. The NCP chief is also scheduled to have a dinner meeting with Mamata when she visits the national capital later this month.

Mamata has already held discussions with DMK leader M K Stalin, Shiv Sena leader Uddhav Thackeray besides TRS' Rao on the issue of alliances.