NCP chief Sharad Pawar in Bengaluru for Opposition parties meeting

Bengaluru, July 18 (IANS) Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) President Sharad Pawar arrived in Bengaluru on Tuesday to take part in the ongoing Opposition parties meeting.

State Ministers M.B. Patil and Laxmi Hebbalkar received the NCP supremo at the airport.

Sources said Sharad Pawar's attendance at the meeting was doubtful in the backdrop of his nephew Ajit Pawar joining the BJP.

However, his arrival has strengthened the Mahagathbandhan.

The participants of the meeting include West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin, Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren, Shiv Sena-UBT chief Uddhav Thackeray, National Conference leader Omar Abdullah, PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti, RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav, Samajwadi Party chief andAkhilesh Yadav, CPI-M leader Sitaram Yechury, among others.

The Congress is upbeat about the outcome of the event.

Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and AICC President Mallikarjun Kharge are also in attendance.

Sonia Gandhi is hosting a dinner party in the evening, according to the sources.