Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar will skip the Opposition parties’ lunch that will be convened by Congress chief Sonia Gandhi on Friday to discuss the upcoming presidential election, ANI reported on Thursday. Another senior Janata Dal (United) leader Sharad Yadav, a likely contender for the post, however, will be in attendance. The presidential election is due in July this year.
The meeting is likely to be held in the Parliament House complex. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Bannerjee, Communist Party of India (Marxist) chief Sitaram Yechury, and Rashtriya Janata Dal head Lalu Prasad will also attend the meeting. Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party Convener Arvind Kejriwal’s name, however, was missing from the list of invitees.
Congress is seeking a larger-unity among non-NDA parties ahead of the Presidential election. The party is hoping that a new-formed unity can be taken forward to the upcoming assembly polls in Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh and Karnataka, besides the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
Efforts are also being made to bring Uttar Pradesh arch rivals Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party together against a common opposition ahead of the presidential poll. There were reports that a number of parleys have already happened between several party leaders on putting up a joint Opposition candidate to take on the official NDA nominee.
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