Akhilesh Yadav to give INDIA bloc's meet a miss; SP leader Ramgopal Yadav likely to attend

Lucknow/New Delhi: Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav has no plans to attend the INDIA bloc meeting scheduled in Delhi on December 6, Samajwadi Party spokesperson Rajendra Chaudhary said on Tuesday.

When asked if the decision was taken after the declaration of assembly poll results in four states, the spokesperson said there was no information about the meeting earlier.

"The Samajwadi party national president has no plans to attend the meeting of the INDIA bloc tomorrow. Prof. Ram Gopal Yadav or any other leader authorised by the national president will go for the meeting," Chaudhary told PTI.

Meanwhile, in Delhi, Samajwadi Party leader Ramgopal Yadav said his party will attend the meeting although Akhilesh Yadav may not be present.

He said the Samajwadi Party chief is busy with some programmes in the Purvanchal region. "It doesn't matter if a leader does not participate. All parties will be there in the meeting."

"Leaders are busy, they have prior commitments... the meeting was announced suddenly. Akhilesh will not attend as he has some programme in Purvanchal, I will attend (the meeting)," he said.

The Samajwadi Party has been upset with the Congress over not being accommodated in Madhya Pradesh by the Congress while announcing its candidates for the state and has openly expressed its displeasure. The SP was also missing from a meeting of the INDIA bloc parties in Parliament on Monday.

West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee will also not attend the December 6 meeting of the INDIA bloc due to prior engagements.

Leaders of the opposition INDIA bloc are set to meet at the residence of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge in Delhi on December 6 to formulate a strategy for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

After the announcement of the results of the recent assembly elections in four states, the SP chief on Monday said he was not disappointed and expressed hope that results will be different in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

He had, however, stressed that opposition parties will have to make a lot of preparations to fight against a "big party" like the BJP.

"The fight is big. To fight a big party like the BJP, we will have to make a lot of preparations. We have to be under strict discipline and have to fight the strategy with which they (BJP) are getting the majority. I hope the results will be different in the Lok Sabha polls," Yadav had told reporters in Varanasi.

The BJP swept Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh on Sunday, inflicting a resounding defeat on the Congress to tighten its stranglehold in the Hindi heartland, in a big boost for Prime Minister Narendra Modi and setting the tone for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

In some consolation for the Congress in the face of the saffron wave after it lost Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, the party ousted the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) in Telangana.