Akhilesh Yadav and Nitish Kumar opt to skip INDIA Bloc meeting, Mamata Banerjee expresses lack of awareness

 Bihar CM Nitish Kumar and Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav have both decided to refrain from attending the INDIA bloc meeting scheduled for Wednesday. This decision comes as the Congress-led meeting aims to unite opposition forces against Prime Minister Narendra Modi's BJP, ahead of the upcoming state elections and the 2024 Lok Sabha election.Nitish Kumar has informed Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge that JDU President Rajiv Ranjan and senior leader Sanjay Jha will represent him at the Delhi meeting.

The growing divide within the opposition is evident, with key leaders choosing to skip the meeting. Akhilesh Yadav, the former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, may send his uncle Ramgopal Yadav as his representative. Mamata Banerjee, the Chief Minister of West Bengal, had already announced on Monday that she would not attend the meeting, citing a lack of awareness and prior commitments. 

"I am not aware about this (meeting). I have already scheduled a seven-day programme in north Bengal, had I known, would I have kept this programme. I would have surely gone for it. But, because we have no information, I am going for the North Bengal tour," said Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee.

The absence of key leaders and expressions of discontent pose challenges for the opposition, especially following the Congress' disappointing results in the recent Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh Assembly elections. As the INDIA bloc meeting approaches, political observers keenly anticipate further insights into the opposition's strategy and cohesion.

All three states won by BJP were picked up by the Congress in an impressive showing in the 2018 elections.