Leaders of several opposition parties including TMC, SP, AAP, RLD and the Left parties assembled at NCP chief Sharad Pawar's residence here on Tuesday to hold a meeting, amid the heightened speculation about the possibility of a third front against the ruling BJP.

Former finance minister and Trinamul Congress (TMC) leader Yashwant Sinha, Samajwadi Party's (SP) Ghanshyam Tiwari, Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) president Jayant Chaudhary, Sushil Gupta from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Binoy Viswam from the Communist Party of India (CPI) and Nilotpal Basu from the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) arrived at Pawar's residence to attend the meeting.

National Conference (NC) leader and former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Farooq Abdullah, former Congress leader Sanjay Jha and former Janata Dal (United) leader Pavan Verma also came to participate in the meeting.

Other prominent personalities who arrived at Pawar's residence to attend the meeting were Justice A P Shah, Javed Akhtar and KC Singh.

The meeting was still on.

Earlier in the day, a senior Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader, on the condition of anonymity, said though Pawar is hosting the meeting, it has been organised by Sinha, who is the convenor of the Rashtra Manch.

Sinha formed the Rashtra Manch, a political action group, in 2018 that targeted the BJP-led government's policies.