In snub to Congress, Akhilesh says he won’t attend INDIA bloc meeting

Lucknow Dec 5 (PTI) Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav has no plans to attend the INDIA bloc meeting scheduled in Delhi on December 6, Samajwadi Party spokesperson Rajendra Chaudhary said on Tuesday.

When asked if the decision was taken after the declaration of assembly poll results in four states, the spokesperson said there was no information about the meeting earlier.

"The Samajwadi party national president has no plans to attend the meeting of the INDIA bloc tomorrow. Prof. Ram Gopal Yadav or any other leader authorised by the national president will go for the meeting," Chaudhary told PTI.

Leaders of the opposition INDIA bloc are set to meet at the residence of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge in Delhi on December 6 to formulate a strategy for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

After the announcement of the results of the recent assembly elections in four states, the SP chief on Monday said he was not disappointed and expressed hope that results will be different in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

He had, however, stressed that opposition parties will have to make a lot of preparations to fight against a "big party" like the BJP.

"The fight is big. To fight a big party like the BJP, we will have to make a lot of preparations. We have to be under strict discipline and have to fight the strategy with which they (BJP) are getting the majority. I hope the results will be different in the Lok Sabha polls," Yadav had told reporters in Varanasi.

The BJP swept Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh on Sunday, inflicting a resounding defeat on the Congress to tighten its stranglehold in the Hindi heartland, in a big boost for Prime Minister Narendra Modi and setting the tone for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

In some consolation for the Congress in the face of the saffron wave after it lost Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, the party ousted the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) in Telangana. PTI