Shiv Sena's Sanjay Raut says national opposition alliance incomplete sans Congress

Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut said that the Congress will play a significant role in the alliance that aims to provide a strong alternative to the present dispensation.

Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut on Saturday said that the alliance of opposition parties at the national level is incomplete without the Congress. He said that the work is on to bring all the opposition parties together at the national level, but the Congress will play a significant role in the alliance that aims to provide a strong alternative to the present dispensation.

Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut. (HT file photo)

"The Congress will play an important role in the alliance. It will be a strong alternative to the present dispensation...Work is in progress to bring all the opposition parties together, which will not be complete till the Congress is roped in," PTI quoted Raut as saying.

The statement comes four days after the meeting of leaders of eight opposition parties, including Trinamool Congress (TMC), Samajwadi Party (SP), Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) and the Left with the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar in New Delhi. The leaders were reported to have discussed various issues being faced by the country.

The agenda of the meet has been speculated to discuss a possible alliance, which could be an alternative to the BJP. No Congress leader was present in the meeting.

However, Pawar on Friday refuted the speculations and said that the formation of a national alliance was not the topic of discussion for the meeting hosted by him. But he also said that if any such coalition emerges, its leadership will have to be "collective".

A day after the meeting, Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole said that any attempt to form an 'anti-BJP' front without Congress will indirectly help the party at the Centre.

Meanwhile, on Friday the Enforcement Directorate (ED) conducted raids at former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh’s premises in Mumbai and Nagpur in connection to a money laundering case and also arrested his two aides. The aides have been remanded to the ED custody till July 1.

"The state investigation agencies can also probe important cases, but attempts are on to target NCP, Shiv Sena and Congress. We will also see," Raut said indirectly naming the BJP, reported PTI.

(With inputs from PTI)