Meeting of non-BJP, non-Congress leaders not with 3rd front in mind: Praful Patel

NEW DELHI: A gathering of non-Congress and non-BJP parties called by NCP chief Sharad Pawar here this evening should be seen as a "meeting of minds" and not regarded in any other context, senior NCP leader Praful Patel today said.

Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav, Sharad Yadav of JDU, TMC leader and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, among others, are expected to attend the meeting, which is slated to take place at Pawar's residence this evening.

The leaders attending the meeting are likely to discuss the current political scenario, including the logjam in Parliament due to protests demanding the ouster of senior BJP leaders who are caught in controversy.

"There are so many issues before the country, including the Parliament logjam... So, this would be just an attempt to make minds meet; beyond that there is no politics," Patel said.

"It is (always) nice to meet because we are the largest democracy, so this is just a meeting of 'minds'," he added.

Patel, who said that the meeting should not be seen as a 'third front' meeting, added later, "There is certainly a lot of space in the country, which does not necessarily subscribe to the views of BJP or Congress. There are many states in which these two parties do not exist."

Pointing to Bihar, where Assembly polls are round the corner, he said it was a state whose politics revolved primarily around just two players -- Nitish Kumar and Lalu Parasad Yadav.

Patel said that Mamata Banerjee had during her meeting with Pawar yesterday suggested that, being a senior leader, he should call non-BJP and non-Congress leaders for discussions over a cup of tea.