Mumbai: UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi today said “like-minded” parties needed to sink local differences in the larger interest of the nation.

Gandhi was speaking at the India Today Conclave here.

“I as Congress parliamentary party chairperson along with Rahul (Gandhi) and other colleagues have regular meetings with like-minded parties to see if we can work together.

“We have worked together earlier. In parliament, there is co-ordination, especially in the Rajya Sabha,” she said.

Gandhi, however, admitted that coming together of such parties was a tough nut to crack.

“It is difficult for all the parties including ours. At the national level, we can come together on some issues. But at the ground level, we are opponents. There is a lot of pressure from all parties including ours like in West Bengal and many other states. It is a difficult task.

“But if all of us think of the larger picture…if we feel and care for the country, we have to sink the local differences,” she said.

Congress sources had said that Gandhi has invited opposition parties for dinner in New Delhi on March 13 in a fresh bid to forge a united front against the BJP.

The initiative is a step towards strengthening the Opposition and laying the foundation for a united front in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, they said.

Guest