The top leaders of the Trinamool Congress, the CPI(M) and the Samajwadi party are likely to skip the January 30 rally in Srinagar to mark the culmination of the Rahul Gandhi-led Bharat Jodo Yatra, and with it the lingering unease in the opposition bloc about the question of uncover who directs the group.
Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge wrote to the presidents of 23 parties last week to request their presence at the rally, which was seen as an attempt to demonstrate unity of intentions among the opposition ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Congress leaders had said the occasion would launch talks about 2024.
However, prominent parties are not enthusiastic, although Rahul himself said Congress must be respectful of other opposition parties. Congress has not invited AAP, BRS, YSR Congress, BJD, AIUDF and Akali Dal to the program.
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“Possibly not,” said a senior Trinamool Congress leader when asked if party leader Mamata Banerjee or anyone else from the party would travel to Srinagar. Earlier, Samajwadi party leader Akhilesh Yadav said he would discuss within the party whether to attend the Srinagar rally, although he declined an invitation to attend the Uttar Pradesh leg of the yatra.
When asked about his attendance, a senior RJD leader did not confirm whether Bihar Deputy Prime Minister Tejashwi Yadav or another leader would attend, saying, “Let’s wait a day or two.” The Congress had both Tejashwi and also invited RJD Patriarch Lalu Prasad to the meeting.
A senior CPI(M) leader said the party’s general secretary, Sitaram Yechury, would not participate in the Jan. 30 program. The leader also said that no one from the party would join the program, although Congress Secretary-General (Organization) KC Venugopal claimed that senior CPI(M) leader in Kashmir, Mohd Yusuf Tarigami, had confirmed his presence.
The Left leader said Congress cannot blame other parties for not attending, saying he started the yatra as a party manifesto and cannot expect others to end up joining as they enlarge the canvas.
The Chair also criticized such an invitation, as some parties were bound to miss the meeting and this would be projected as anger in the opposition and providing ammunition for the BJP.
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The CPI(M) position contradicts the fact that the CPI accepts the invitation and sends Secretary General D. Raja and Senior MP Binoy Viswam to Srinagar. This is one of the rare instances where the CPI has taken a different stance from the CPI(M) on such issues.
While the invitation to the congress has raised some unease, Mamata Banerjee did not attend the rally recently convened by BRS chief K Chandrasekhar Rao in Khammam. Akhilesh, AAP Chief Ministers Arvind Kejriwal and Bhagwant Mann, and Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan of CPI(M) attended. Mamata was absent as Trinamool are suspicious of Rao’s ambitions at the national level.