Power corridors in Delhi are buzzing with the news of growing bonhomie between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and opposition INDIA bloc stalwart Sharad Pawar of the NCP-SP.In this story of two stalwarts coming together, Monday was a particularly important day.It began with all eight MPs of the Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar group calling on PM Modi in his Parliament House office and ended with Modi attending the reception of Sharad Pawar’s granddaughter in Lutyens Delhi at night.The delegation was led by Sharad Pawar’s daughter and Baramati MP Supriya Sule, who has made no bones about closing ranks with the BJP of late. On the eve of Monsoon Session of Parliament when the government met floor leaders of all parties to debate the agenda for the session, Sule made a very public gesture of respect for BJP stalwarts.After emerging from that meeting, she touched the feet of Defence Minister Rajnath Singh who chaired the floor leaders’ meeting in his capacity as deputy leader of Lok Sabha. She also touched the feet of former BJP chief JP Nadda who is leader of the house in Rajya Sabha.Yesterday, Sule and seven other NCP-SP MPs met PM Modi and discussed a range of issues, including floods in Maharashtra. But, the key and unstated issue on the table was a widely anticipated NCP-SP support to the government’s delimitation and women’s reservation Bill as and when it is reintroduced.The government is working to muster a two-thirds majority in both Houses to pass this Constitution amendment agenda which had failed for want of numbers in the special session called in April.After the MPs’ meeting, Supriya Sule was seen welcoming Modi to the Janpath Road residence of Sharad Pawar, where the two leaders shared smiles and warm moments.Importantly, the reception was also attended by the entire Gandhi family — Sonia Gandhi, Rahul, Priyanka and Priyanka’s daughter.Union Home Minister Amit Shah was also among the guests.


