BSP supremo Mayawati has made it clear that she will not attend the joint opposition parties’ meeting called by Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi against the CAA and the NRC. Mayawati, in a series of tweets, explained the reasons for her snubbing the grand old party.
https://twitter.com/Mayawati/status/1216558468993179649?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Mayawati stated that despite her party providing support to the Congress government in Rajasthan, the Congress had worked on causing an internal rift in the BSP and had inducted BSP MLAs in their party. She called it ‘backstabbing’.
Mayawati added that due to the Congress’ behaviour with her party in Rajasthan, she will not attend the meeting called by Congress, because it will then become detrimental to the morales of her party in Rajasthan. Mayawati further added that her party does not support the CAA or the NRC, and she appeals the central government to take back the legislations. She also stated that the politicisation of educational institutions like JNU and others is ‘unfortunate’.
It is notable here that Mayawati has been miffed with the Congress after 6 BSP MLAs left the party to join Congress in Rajasthan. Recently, she had also criticised Congress UP general secretary Priyanka Gandhi for not meeting with the mothers in Kota who had lost their infants in the government hospital. She had stated that Priyanka had been shedding ‘fake tears’ in UP.
West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee too had stated that she will not attend the opposition parties’ meeting called by Congress.
Mamata Banerjee, though she had been staunchly against the CAA and the proposed NRC, had slammed the Congress and the Left for indulging in violence in her state in the name of protests and had declined to attend the meeting. Banerjee had criticised the vandalism, arson and violence during Bharat Bandh called on January 8 and termed it as ‘Goondagardi’ and ‘cheap politics’.
“I have decided to boycott the meeting convened by Sonia Gandhi on January 13 in New Delhi as I do not support the violence that the Left and Congress unleashed in West Bengal yesterday,” Mamata had announced on the floor of the WB assembly on Thursday, January 9.
Meanwhile, the AAP has stated that it has no information over any such meeting called by Congress. AAP leader Sanjay Singh has stated that they have no information about any such meeting and hence there is no question of attending, indirectly stating that they have not been invited.
After declinations by Mamata and Maya, Congress’ another attempt to lead the opposition parties against the ruling BJP seem to have been smashed. DMK and the RJD will be attending the meeting, but the backing out of Mamata Banerjee, who holds a considerable number of MPs in the parliament, once again exposes the glaring holes in Congress’ pretence to speak for the opposition and gather a combined anti-government stand.
In another jolt to the Congress, their new ally, the freshly ‘secular’ and newly ‘liberal’ Shiv Sena has also announced that they will not attend the Delhi meeting called by Sonia.