NEW DELHI: Congress leader Sonia Gandhi has launched a soft political outreach to regional parties, discussing options to raise the Punjab National Bank scam in Parliament and explore a broader convergence, signalling that state-centric outfits need not consider Congress a threat to their interests.

As part of her outreach, Sonia will invite leaders of opposition parties for dinner at her residence in New Delhi, according to Congress sources. This is being seen as a step towards laying the foundation for a united front in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

The dinner is expected to be held ahead of the AICC plenary session scheduled for March 16-18 and could take place on March 13. Invitations are being extended to the 17 parties which attended a meeting called by the Congress to brainstorm over common strategy in Parliament and outside last month. A TDP representative may also attend the dinner.

With the PNB scam seeing almost all opposition parties attacking the government, Sonia seems keen on using the concurrence to seek a more unified approach in Parliament. Her conversations assume importance after BJP’s success in elections in three north-eastern states.

Moves by opposition leaders like Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee and TRS chief K C Rao to form a federal front come across as a parallel exercise but not necessarily at odds with Sonia’s efforts. Some opposition leaders feel Mamata has signalled that she is peeved with Congress for not involving her in the north-east campaign or in the earlier Gujarat election but Congress will remain part of the scheme of things.

Sonia's approach seems intended to assure parties which have been electoral opponents that their interests are not at cross purposes. In this context, an understanding, at least in Parliament to begin with, can be worked out with parties like Biju Janata Dal. Sonia spoke to BJD's Bhartruhari Mahtab on Tuesday and had exchanged notes with Trinamool MPs on Monday. The electoral presence of Congress has been diminishing in Odisha and in the current situation, BJP is seen to pose a stronger challenge to BJD.

In the long run-up to the next Lok Sabha election, opposition circles have been buzzing with various formulations to contain BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi . A view, articulated by the top Congress leadership, is that BJP could be vulnerable in Hindi states where it did very well in 2014 and its number can be eroded significantly, denying a majority on its own.

The best result, goes the speculation, will be if BJP gets knocked out of contention for office altogether, but many senior opposition leaders do not think the saffron party will suffer a meltdown. However, if the BJP numbers were to fall, it would allow unhappy allies like Shiv Sena and other regional parties greater say in selection of the PM and this might put Modi at a disadvantage.

Congress’s bid to put forward a more benign face to regional parties could be part of an effort to maximise the impact of non-NDA parties. After Rahul Gandhi took over as Congress president, Sonia was expected to play a role in coalition building, an area where she has more experience and has equations with opposition leaders.

