Opposition leaders from 18 political parties travelled alongside Congress president Rahul Gandhi by a special flight and then by bus to attend the oath taking ceremonies of three Congress chief ministers — Kamal Nath in Madhya Pradesh, Bhupesh Baghel in Chhattisgarh and Ashok Gehlot in Rajasthan on Monday.

The show of unity to orchestrate Mahagathbandhan (Grand Alliance) in the run-up to 2019 Lok Sabha elections, however, lost a bit of its sheen because of the absence of three key opposition leaders — Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief Mamata Banerjee, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati, and Samajwadi Party (SP) head Akhilesh Yadav.

From the Congress, besides Rahul Gandhi, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge, former chief minister of Karnataka Siddharamaiah attended the swearing in ceremonies.

Newly elected Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath used the occasion to announce farm loan waiver that was simultaneously tweeted by Rahul Gandhi as beating the deadline of even 10 days set by him.

Congress' young turks Jyotiraditya Scindia and Sachin Pilot, who after a long political tussle were accommodated as deputy chief ministers in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan respectively, could be seen sitting together in the bus.

Among the prominent leaders who joined the mega unity show orchestrated by the Congress were — Sharad Pawar (NCP), Chandrababu Naidu (TDP), HD Deve Gowda and his son Kumaraswamy (JDS), Farooq Abdullah (NC), MK Stalin and Kanimojhi (DMK), Tejashwi Yadav (RJD) and Sharad Yadav(LJD).

Although no speeches were made on the occasion by any leader, the very presence of so many state straps opposed to the BJP, also underlined the stature and personal rapport of the Congress leaders with leaders cutting across party lines.

Besides, several leaders from regional parties — Hemant Soren (JMM), Jiten Ram Manjhi (HAM), Babu Lal Marandi (JVM), PK Kunhalikutti (IUML), Badruddin Ajmal (AIUDF), Raju Shetty (Swabhimani Paksha) and Sanjay Singh (AAP) — also attended the events.

Former BJP chief Ministers Kailash Joshi, Babulal Gaur and Shivraj Singh Chauhan drew attention by their presence. Shivraj also hugged Scindia and Nath in full view of the public