Opposition split over demonestisation, many parties to stay away from Congress' show of strength

It seems that there are few takers for Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi's campaign against demonetisation.

File photo

Delhi: Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi's bid to unite the Opposition seems to be faltering with cracks seemingly appearing over the issue of demonetisation.

Even as the Congress VP continued his tirade against Prime Minister Narendra Modi in an effort to garner eyeballs, several parties have pulled out of a joint press conference called by the Congress in the national capital over note ban on Tuesday.

Nitish Kumar’s JD(U) and the CPI(M) have decided to stay away from the Opposition’s show of strength even though both the parties actively supported the Congress in Parliament’s Winter Session.

On the other hand, CPI(M) chief Sitaram Yechury said that his party will not participate in tomorrow’s event, news agency ANI reported.

“All 16 Opposition parties will not be there... Things are not planned properly,” he said, adding that Lalu Prasad’s RJD and Sharad Pawar’s NCP have “similar reservations”.

And JD(U) leader KC Tyagi told IANS, "We were not sounded out, we don't know what is the agenda of the press briefing, there is no common minimum programme. So how can we participate?" 

Meanwhile, senior NCP leader DP Tripathi said that although the "Opposition is united over the wrong implementation" of the November 8 demonetisation, his party won't be going to the presser.

"Many parties are not coming, so we are not coming too," Tripathi said.

The Samajwadi Party, too, was undecided on the issue. 

"We have not decided... at least, I am not going. You may contact neta ji (Mulayam Singh Yadav) for more details," SP leader Naresh Agrawal said.

However, Trinamool Congress leader Sukehndu Shekhar Roy said that his party is "most likely" to participate. 

Invitations for the presser were sent to major Opposition parties by the Congress, barring Odisha’s ruling BJD, Tamil Nadu’s ruling AIADMK and Asaduddin Owaisi’s AIMIM.

Several Opposition parties were left red-faced after a Congress delegation led by Rahul went to meet PM Modi on December 16 on the issue of farm loans without even informing them.

Also, some media reports said that the growing closeness between TMC and the Congress has upset the Left. 

(With Agency inputs)