Congress to go ahead with INDIA meet despite major allies' cold response

The Congress will go ahead with an INDIA bloc meeting on Wednesday to formulate a strategy for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and it will call for another meeting involving top opposition leaders in the third week of December.

The decision comes as some opposition leaders, including Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, said they won't be able to attend the Wednesday meeting.

Congress leader Gurdeep Sappal said a coordination meeting of parliamentary party leaders of the INDIA grouping will be held at 6 pm on December 6 at Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge’s residence.

He said a meeting of party presidents and heads of the INDIA partners will take place in the third week of December at a date convenient to all.

According to Congress sources, Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar is unwell while his Tamil Nadu counterpart MK Stalin is bogged down by the cyclone that has hit his state. The West Bengal chief minister is said to be busy with a family wedding.

The sources said the three leaders told the Congress chief to postpone the December 6 meeting.

Larger meeting

But Congress sources floor leaders in parliament of various INDIA parties will meet on December 6.

Samajwadi Party spokesperson Rajendra Chaudhary said on Tuesday that Akhilesh Yadav has no plans to attend the meeting on December 6.

But Samajwadi Party leader Ramgopal Yadav said his party will attend the Wednesday gathering.

The meeting convened by the Congress comes after the BJP was elected to power in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh while the Congress won in Telangana.

There have been rumblings in the INDIA bloc after the Congress defeats in the three states, with the Samajwadi Party expressing its displeasure openly.

Leaders of parties like the Shiv Sena, Janata Dal (United) and Aam Aadmi Party said the Congress must be more accommodative of regional allies.

In Kerala, chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan said the Congress thought it was competent to win against the BJP on its own and did not join forces with the other INDIA alliance parties "due to its greed".

"They were greedy and lusted for power. They wanted it all for themselves. That is what led to this situation in those states," the Marxist leader said.

(With agency inputs)