Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president Sharad Pawar on Wednesday met RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav. His meeting came amidst West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee holding talks with many opposition leaders including Congress President Sonia Gandhi, her son Rahul Gandhi and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in Delhi
Pawar took to Twitter to share a photo of himself with the veteran RJD leader as he wrote in Hindi, “Met Rashtriya Janata Dal President Lalu Prasad Yadav ji and inquired about his health. Was very happy to meet Lalu ji, who’s been an old, colleague, after a long time.”
राष्ट्रीय जनता दल के अध्यक्ष श्री. लालू प्रसाद यादव जी से मुलाकात की और उनके स्वास्थ्य की जानकारी ली। लंबे अरसे बाद पुराने सहयोगी लालूजी से मिलकर खुशी हुई।@laluprasadrjd @RJDforIndia pic.twitter.com/H2tV9KK3Gx
— Sharad Pawar (@PawarSpeaks) July 28, 2021
Also present during the meeting was Lalu Prasad Yadav’s daughter and RJD MP Misa Bharti.
Both Pawar and Yadav were cabinet colleagues in the central government headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during the UPA1 and UPA2 governments.
Yadav, who’s currently recuperating from long-term ilness at his daughter’s residence in Delhi, had addressed his first political meeting on 5 July when he slammed both the Narendra Modi government and the Bihar administration headed by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.
Pawar’s meeting with Yadav coincided with Mamata Banerjee arriving in the national capital to hold talks with several opposition leaders. Speaking to reporters, the West Bengal chief minister said that the opposition unity will take shape on its own.
Banerjee said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi must convene an all-party meeting on the Pegasus snooping row and decide on a Supreme Court-monitored probe. As for her meeting with Sonia Gandhi, Banerjee said that the Congress President had invited her for a cup of tea adding that Rahul Gandhi too was present during her meeting.
“To defeat the BJP, everybody needs to come together. Everyone will have to work together,” Banerjee was quoted as saying.