Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati will not be attending Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad Yadav’s Opposition rally scheduled for August 27 in Patna, PTI reported. Congress leaders Ghulam Nabi Azad and CP Joshi will be present at the event on behalf of the Congress, Yadav said.
“RJD has been told that the BSP will share stage with a party only if it is decided in advance which party will contest and on how many seats,” Mayawati said. However, Yadav said BSP General Secretary Satish Mishra will be seen at the rally.
The rally called “BJP Bhagao, Desh Bachao” seeks to strengthen the unity of the Opposition parties to defeat the Bharatiya Janata Party in the Lok Sabha elections in 2019. The rally had been planned over a month ago. The political dynamic in Bihar, however, changed with Chief Minister Nitish Kumar joining hands with the BJP to form the government.
Yadav said West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee and rebel Janata Dal (United) leader Sharad Yadav have confirmed their presence at the rally.
The Communist Party of India (Marxist) has also decided not to attend the rally. “At a time when the entire state of Bihar is under water due to floods, it is not appropriate to politicise an issue,” Mint quoted an unidentified CPI(M) leader as saying.
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