Sonia may join Oppn meet on Dec 10, Maya not confirmed
NEW DELHI: Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati is yet to confirm her presence at the December 10 meeting of top Opposition leaders in the Capital and given that she has “never come for such meetings, the chances of her participation are low,” a BSP leader said on the condition of anonymity.
Congress president Rahul Gandhi, National Conference chairman Farooq Abdullah, Trinamool Congress chief and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, Nationalist Congress Party patriarch Sharad Pawar, Telugu Desam chief and Andhra CM N Chandrababu Naidu, CPM’s Sitaram Yechury, CPI leader D Raja, DMK chief MK Stalin, Rashtriya Janata Dal president Tejashwi Yadav, Karnataka chief minister HD Kumaraswamy of the Janata Dal (Secular), and Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav are set to attend the meeting.
According to some Congress leaders, United Progressive Alliance (UPA) chairperson Sonia Gandhi is likely to participate in the meeting. “Sonia-ji has attended all such meetings in the past, and this time too she is likely to attend,” one of them said on the condition of anonymity.
Interestingly, the meeting is unlikely to have a fixed agenda or a sharp focus on the 2019 elections, political leaders said on Monday.
Naidu has not clarified on the agenda of the meeting, they add, and when he called up leaders such as Yechury and Banerjee, he maintained that the meeting would simply provide a platform to explore ideas.
The deliberate omission of an agenda is to ensure a free-flowing discussion on a range of issues and accommodate different points of view on a range of subjects, two leaders said.
“It must be to discuss broad common issues to be taken forward,” said one of them, a senior Trinamool leader who asked not to be identified.
The other, a Left leader, confirmed that there is no pre-fixed agenda and that the meeting would also likely discuss issues to be raised in Parliament in the coming winter session.
INTERESTINGLY, THE MEETING IS UNLIKELY TO HAVE A FIXED AGENDA OR A SHARP FOCUS ON THE 2019 ELECTIONS, POLITICAL LEADERS SAID ON MONDAY
CHENNAI: Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) chief M K Stalin will meet former Congress president, Sonia Gandhi, in New Delhi on December 10 to invite her for a ceremony to unveil statues of former Tamil Nadu chief ministers Muthuvel Karunanidhi and C N Annadurai.
Gandhi has already indicated she would attend the ceremony on December 16th, a DMK Parliament member said on condition of anonymity, adding that the invite is a mere formality.
Stalin will meet Gandhi, who heads the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance, when he will be in New Delhi for the meeting of opposition parties on December 10 at Andhra Pradesh chief minister and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) leader Chandrababu Naidu’s invitation. “[Naidu] has invited Stalin to work with him for dethroning the BJP [Bharatiya Janata Party] .... ” the lawmaker said and pointed out that Karunanidhi, who passed away in August, and Gandhi shared an excellent rapport.
Those discussions will continue during Gandhi’s visit, this person added.
The DMK has also invited the leaders of the Trinamool Congress, Communist Party of India (Marxist), Communist Party of India, TDP, Janata Dal (Secular), Nationalist Congress Party, Telugu Rashtriya Samiti and Aam Admi Party for the ceremony at its headquarters – Anna Arivalyam. It will be the second platform for uniting the opposition parties to take on the BJP after the New Delhi meeting.
Tamil Nadu has the most number of Lok Sabha seats, 39, after Uttar Pradesh (80), Maharashtra (48), West Bengal (42) and Bihar (40). The DMK and Congress have been in alliance in the state along with some smaller regional parties and are likely to contest the upcoming polls together.
DMK’s arch-rival, All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, swept the Lok Sabha polls in Tamil Nadu and won 37 seats in 2014. The Congress and the DMK contested separately and failed to win any seats while the BJP and its alliance partner, Pattali Makkal Katchi, managed one each.
“After Karunanidhi’s demise on Aug 7, the DMK general body and executive committee selected his younger son, Stalin, as DMK president. Stalin has to prove his political acumen, and is engaging with national leaders,’’ said former Gandhigram Rural Institute professor G Palanithurai.
“Therefore, he is attending the opposition parties meeting in New Delhi and has called them for the statues unveiling function in Chennai as show of strength.”