Major parties decline Cong invite for meeting

The Congress’s attempt to project unity among all the Opposition parties has hit rough weather again.

Major anti-BJP parties such as the Left, Janata Dal (United), Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Samjwadi Party (SP), Bahujan Sanaj Party (BSP), Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) expressed their unwillingness to attend a meeting and press conference called by Congress chief Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday.

The Congress called the meeting saying all Opposition parties could evolve a joint strategy and show the people that they have peppered over differences to take on Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a grand way in the wake of note ban.

But the parties, barring the Trinamool Congress (TMC), still appeared peeved with Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi’s decision to meet Modi in Parliament without consulting them.

TMC chief Mamata Banerjee, who has been at the forefront of the protests against demonetisation, however, conveyed her readiness to attend the meeting. “Let us see what happens,” she said in Kolkata before leaving for Delhi.

The Left, which has not hidden its reservations over Mamata’s role in the exercise, said the Congress should know that in a combined effort, prior understanding and consultations are a must.

CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury said he received a call from the Congress leadership inviting him for the press conference.

“But when I wanted to know the agenda of the meeting, plan of action and whether all Opposition parties have been called, I didn’t receive any answer,” he said.