'Not right to ignore Congress while bringing together non-BJP parties'

Mumbai: Ignoring the Congress will not be right when it comes to initiating the process of bringing together non-BJP parties, NCP chief Sharad Pawar said here on Wednesday.

"The process which we want to initiate to bring non-BJP parties together, we want to take the process forward along with the Congress. It will not be right to ignore Congress," Pawar told reporters here.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had on March 27 written to her non-BJP counterparts and other opposition leaders, urging them to come together and unitedly fight the saffron party. When asked about it, Pawar said the Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief had spoken to him on the issue.

"We have not spoken to other people. We will have to ask the chief ministers of 9-10 states. We will have to ask them (for a convenient) date and discuss the venue (for the meeting)," Pawar said. Banerjee, who had written the letter as the TMC chairperson, called for a meeting to discuss strategies to take on the BJP and commit to the cause of a unified and principled opposition that will make way for the "government that the country deserves".

Meanwhile, NCP leader Majeed Memon on Wednesday said that Union ministers Rajnath Singh and S Jaishankar should have "at least" negated US Secretary of State Antony Blinken's America monitoring some recent "concerning developments" on human rights abuses in India remark, but the duo kept mum.

Memon also wondered what message has gone to the world with the ministers allegedly keeping quiet when Blinken made the comments in their presence at a press conference.

The NCP leader made the remarks while interacting with media persons here and was flanked by party chief Sharad Pawar.

The US is monitoring some recent "concerning developments" in India including a rise in human rights abuses by some government officials,

Blinken has said, insisting that America regularly engages with its Indian partners on shared democratic values.

Blinken made these remarks at a joint news conference with Defence Secretary Lloyd

Austin and their Indian counterparts — External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh — after the conclusion of the 2+2 Ministerial on Monday in Washington.