Many prominent leaders of the opposition have opted out of the opposition meeting on presidential polls, convened by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. The latest exit was Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao who was unhappy that the Congress was being invited. "There is no question of sharing any platform with the Congress," TRS said, reported NDTV.
The West Bengal chief minister is in the national capital for the meeting she has convened on Wednesday to explore the possibility of formulating a common strategy with other opposition parties for the presidential poll where the BJP-led NDA has an unmistakable edge given its strength in Parliament and state and union territory assemblies. Banerjee's decision has, however, come in for sharp criticism by the Left, a TMC adversary in West Bengal.
Miffed at the TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee's "unilateral" decision to call a meeting for discussion on a joint presidential nominee, the CPI(M) and the CPI on Tuesday said they will send their MPs to the opposition meet to be held here on June 15. CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury and CPI general secretary D. Raja said the top leadership will not attend the meeting called by the Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief. The CPI(M) will be represented in the meeting by the leader of the party in Rajya Sabha, Elamaram Kareem.
Yechury has also written a letter to Banerjee saying such meetings of opposition parties have always followed a procedure of prior mutual consultations to enable the maximum participation of those wishing to join. "However, in this instance, we received a unilateral communication informing the date, time, venue and agenda. Your letter mentions 'a fruitful confluence of opposition voices is the need of the hour'. This could have been better achieved if there had been mutual consultation and a proper time to enable party leaders to reschedule their prior commitments to attend such a meeting."
"Unfortunately, there were only three days between the receipt of your letter and the date of the meeting," said Yechury.
The Congress, despite its reservations over Banerjee unilaterally convening the meeting, is likely to send its representatives. Congress sources said Mallikarjun Kharge, the leader of opposition in Rajya Sabha, Jairam Ramesh and Randeep Surjewala may attend the meeting. The Congress, in spite of its diminution following a string of electoral losses, retains its preeminence among opposition parties because of its pan India presence. It was also the first off the blocks to start exploring the possibility of putting up a joint opposition candidate for the presidential election.
Soon after the Election Commission announced the schedule for the election, Congress president Sonia Gandhi had nominated Kharge as the interlocutor to engage other opposition parties in discussions. Banerjee, whose relations with the Congress have soured since her return to power for a third straight term in West Bengal, gave a short shrift to the main opposition party and called a meeting to discuss the opposition strategy for the presidential election.
Several other opposition parties are likely to attend the meeting called by Banerjee and take forward the discussion on fielding a common candidate. The election of the President of India will be held on July 18. With numbers on its side—the ruling NDA has about half the votes of the electoral college—and the possible support of fence-sitters like the BJD, AIADMK and YSRCP, its candidate will likely sail through the contest.
