The Congress’ efforts to present a united Opposition front at its scheduled press conference on Tuesday appears to have fallen apart yet again.
The media interaction is expected to highlight the distress to people caused by demonetisation, and the allegations of corruption Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi had raised against Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
While a section in the Opposition says the Congress had neither made proper arrangements nor circulated the agenda of the meeting to them, the Congress expressed confidence that many non-NDA parties would participate. “Whoever comes tomorrow (Tuesday) will come. Those who don’t come tomorrow will come the next time. Those who will come, you will see tomorrow,” Congress leader Jairam Ramesh told reporters on Monday. “The biggest issue today is demonetisation and the second issue is corruption by the Prime Minister,” Ramesh added.
When asked if Congress President Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul would participate, Ramesh said the Congress leadership will attend the programme.
While the Trinamool Congress and the RJD have agreed to participate in the meeting, the Left parties, JD(U), NCP and SP have decided not to share the dais with the Congress. This has made the Congress rethink the participation of Sonia and Rahul. Party insiders say the two leaders would address the briefing only if senior leaders from other parties participate.
CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury cited the “lack of proper consultation and coordination among the parties” as his reason for not attending the meeting. “Most parties were neither consulted nor informed about what will be the agenda of the meeting. Several Opposition parties have reservations about the way the meeting has been convened,” he added.
CPI National Secretary D Raja said he, too, would not attend the meeting for the same reason.
JD(U) leader KC Tyagi said the meeting had no agenda and no common minimum programme. “It is unlikely to arrive at any conclusion,” he said.
Trinamool Congress supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has reached the Capital to attend the programme. She told reporters in Kolkata that she was attending the event at the invitation of the Congress. “Let’s see what happens…” she told reporters. While the Trinamool Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party had kicked off a joint agitation against the Centre’s decision to demonetise high-value notes, other Opposition parties did not join the bandwagon in the beginning. Most non-Congress Opposition parties are saying that the Opposition unity was limited to Parliament — where the Winter Session was washed out due to the issue — and that they need more discussions for a joint struggle outside the House.