JD(S) finally gets invite for Congress’s Srinagar programme

Congress appears to have a change of heart and has now invited HD Deve Gowda-led Janata Dal (Secular) to the concluding ceremony of Bharat Jodo Yatra in Srinagar in January but Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP and K Chandrasekhar Rao-led BRS are yet to get an invite.

With this, Congress has invited 23 parties for the culmination of Rahul Gandhi's 3,570 km Kanyakumari to Kashmir 'Bharat Jodo Yatra' on Mahatma Gandhi's martyrdom day to "strengthen" the message of unity.

JD(S) was not in the list of 21 parties announced by Congress on Wednesday and it was seen as a snub to the Karnataka-based party. Sources attributed the delay in inviting the JD(S), its ally in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls in Karnataka, as part of its messaging in the run-up to the Karnataka Assembly polls.

While the Congress has been accusing the JD(S) as a B-Team of the BJP, the latest move came as the BJP made it clear that it will not enter into an alliance with JD(S) in the run up to Assembly elections.

Jayant Singh-led RLD is another party, which got a late invite compared to other parties but sources said there was nothing much to read into it as they could not reach out personally to Singh earlier. RLD had asked its cadre to overwhelmingly participate in the Bharat Jodo Yatra during its Uttar Pradesh leg.

Besides JD(S) and RLD, presidents of other parties which got invite from Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge are Trinamool Congress, Samajwadi Party, DMK, CPI(M), CPI, JD(U), Shiv Sena (Thackeray), NCP, JMM, RJD, PDP, National Conference, TDP, BSP, RLSP, HAM, MDMK, VCK, Muslim League, Kerala Congress and RSP.

However, it is to be seen whether leaders like Mamata Banerjee, Akhilesh Yadav and Mayawati fly to Srinagar for a programme where Rahul will have the limelight. None of these leaders had joined the yatra earlier. Their presence would also give further legitimacy to Rahul's role in the Opposition, which these leaders have so far been
avoiding to endorse.

Interestingly, Akhilesh has said that he will discuss with other leaders in his party before deciding on attending the function while he is going to Telangana to attend a rally organised by BRS chief Rao next week. AAP Chief Ministers Kejriwal and Bhagwant Mann, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata and Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan are likely to attend Rao's rally.

Besides BRS and AAP, invites have also not gone to YSR Congress, BJD, Akali Dal and AIUDF. No parties based in the north-east have also been invited so far. "As of 2:45 PM on January 13, we have invited 23 parties...As of 2:50 PM on January 13, no invitation has gone to AAP and BRS," Congress General Secretary (Communications) Jairam Ramesh told a press conference.

The invite has been seen as an attempt by the Congress to initiate the ground for future conversations ahead of 2024 Lok Sabha elections while the omissions are said to be due to the party's reservations about these outfits fitting into the scheme of 'Opposition unity'.

Ramesh said with the yatra getting over, now the question is about what will be the next step in the context of 2024 elections and "there will be some discussion on that in Srinagar".

The invite to parties comes days after Rahul insisted that Congress need to make non-BJP parties "comfortable and feel respected" though he repeated that regional parties like Samajwadi Party cannot provide a national ideology like the Congress.

He had also refused to make much of non-participation of leaders likeAkhilesh and Mayawati during the UP-leg of the yatra, saying there could be "political compulsions" but emphasised that they all are on the same page and the idea of "hate-free India".