A day after an opposition INDIA bloc meeting stressed unity and better coordination among its partners, Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday met senior Congress leader Sonia Gandhi at her 10, Janpath residence and discussed ways to further strengthen the alliance.Sources said the two leaders are learnt to have discussed the strategy between the two parties going forward after the opposition bloc meeting, and following an exodus of Trinamool MPs after the party’s defeat to the BJP in the recent West Bengal polls.While both the parties did not disclose details of the meeting, sources said Banerjee is learnt to have stressed on opposition unity, and asserted that the INDIA bloc should work together in taking on the BJP on various issues, including those concerning the public.At the opposition alliance meeting on Monday, Banerjee had urged all the constituents to forget the past and stand united.Monday’s meeting focused on setting aside mutual bitterness, aligning with civil society movements, and acknowledging the Congress as the anchor of the opposition alliance, provided it shows a “large heart”.Sources said Banerjee was emphatic in asserting that the leaders of the opposition alliance should avoid criticising each other, a marked departure from her previous efforts to carve out a bloc independent of the Congress.After the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, Banerjee had questioned the Congress’s ability to lead the opposition bloc.Tuesday’s meeting came after Banerjee and Gandhi, the chairperson of the Congress Parliamentary Party, met each other warmly with a hug during the opposition meeting held at the Constitution Club.The Congress shared pictures of the bonhomie between the two leaders.The meeting also followed a rebellion within the Trinamool, with several party MPs deciding to form a separate group and align with the ruling NDA.A majority of Trinamool’s 80 MLAs have already formed a separate group led by Ritabrata Banerjee as the leader of opposition in the state Assembly.This was the first closed-door meeting between Banerjee and Gandhi after Trinamool’s defeat in the polls, and alleged attacks on party workers and MP Abhishek Banerjee after the elections.