Major parties likely to skip Congress’s Srinagar rally to mark culmination of Bharat Jodo Yatra on Jan 30

Top leaders of Trinamool Congress, CPI(M) and Samajwadi Party are likely to skip the rally in Srinagar on January 30 to mark the culmination of the Rahul Gandhi-led Bharat Jodo Yatra, exposing the continuing uneasiness in the Opposition block over the question of who leads the grouping.

Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge had last week written to presidents of 23 parties seeking their presence at the rally, which was seen as a bid to showcase unity of purpose among the Opposition ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha election. Congress leaders had said that the occasion would initiate talks about 2024.

However, prominent parties are not enthused though Rahul himself said that Congress has to be respectful to other Opposition parties. Congress has not invited AAP, BRS, YSR Congress, BJD, AIUDF and Akali Dal to the programme.

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“Possibly not,” a senior Trinamool Congress leader said when asked whether party chief Mamata Banerjee or anyone else from the party will be going to Srinagar. Earlier, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav said that he will discuss within the party whether to attend the Srinagar rally though he has declined an invite to be part of Uttar Pradesh-leg of the yatra.

When asked about its participation, a senior RJD leader did not confirm whether Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav or any other leader would attend saying, “let us wait for a day or two.” Congress had invited both Tejashwi and RJD patriarch Lalu Prasad for the meeting.

A senior CPI(M) leader said party General Secretary Sitaram Yechury will not attend the January 30 programme. The leader also said that none from the party will join the programme though Congress General Secretary (Organisation) KC Venugopal claimed that senior CPI(M) leader in Kashmir Mohd Yusuf Tarigami has confirmed his presence.

The Left leader said the Congress cannot blame other parties for non-attendance, saying it had started the yatra as a party programme and cannot expect others to join at the end when they enlarge the canvas.

The leader also found fault with such an invitation as some parties were bound to skip the meeting and it would be projected as trouble in the Opposition, giving ammunition to the BJP.

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CPI(M)’s stand is in variance with the CPI accepting the invitation and sending General Secretary D Raja and senior MP Binoy Viswam to Srinagar. This is one of the rare occasions when the CPI took a divergent stand from the CPI(M) on such issues.

While the Congress invite has triggered some discomfort, Mamata Banerjee did not attend the rally called by BRS chief K Chandrasekhar Rao in Khammam recently. It saw the attendance of Akhilesh, AAP Chief Ministers Arvind Kejriwal and Bhagwant Mann as well as CPI(M)’s Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. Mamata was absent as Trinamool is circumspect of Rao’s ambitions at the national level.