New Delhi: Today, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi is going to host a dinner which is likely to be attended by leaders of 17 Opposition parties. The agenda of this dinner is to discuss on the amid talk of forging a broader front against the BJP-led NDA ahead of the 2019 general elections.

According to reports, the leaders of Andhra Pradesh's ruling party Telugu Desam which are still a part of NDA, BJD (ruling party of Odisha), and the TRS (ruling party of Telangana) are not been invited. It is interesting to be noted that the abovementioned ministers had been pulled out from the Modi Govt. before.  

which recently pulled out its ministers from the Modi government but 

Lalu's son and Leader of Opposition in the Bihar Assembly Tejashwi Yadav is also likely to attend the dinner but there was no confirmation.

Former chief ministers of Jharkhand, Babulal Marandi of Jharkhand Vikas Morcha and Hemant Soren of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha will attend the dinner, along with former Bihar chief minister and Hindustani Awam Morcha chief Jitan Ram Manjhi, who recently quit the NDA and joined forces with Lalu Prasad's RJD.

Trinamool Congress leader Sudip Bandyopadhyay, DMK's Kanimozhi and Ram Gopal Yadav of the Samajwadi Party are likely to be present, and so would be leaders of left parties — CPM's Sitaram Yechury and CPI's D Raja.

Leaders of other parties like JD-S and Kerala Congress, Indian Union Muslim League, Revolutionary Socialist Party and RLD are also likely to attend.

BSP leader Mayawati may not send a representative of her party as they are aligned with JD-S for the Karnataka polls this year.

The dinner will be hosted at the 10 pm at the Janpath residence of Sonia Gandhi, is expected to set the tone for opposition unity in the run-up to the next general elections.

Sonia Gandhi has called for opposition unity and said parties should set aside their minor differences to get together in the larger interest of keeping the BJP out of power in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.