On Friday, the Samajwadi Party (SP) and Bahujan Samajwadi Party (BSP) reportedly will not attend the grand meeting of 18 Opposition parties called by the Congress supremo Sonia Gandhi, amidst the Coronavirus lockdown. The video conference meeting was announced on Thursday to discuss an array of issues such as the migrant crisis, suspension of labour laws, and the government’s handling of the pandemic would be discussed.
According to the Times of India report, both these parties have refused to be a part of large opposition meetings but have sent their party representatives to support the Opposition in the Parliament.
Moreover, the Aam Aadmi Party has claimed that they have not been invited to participate in the meeting. In a first, Shiv Sena will join the Opposition bandwagon on discussing the issues of the day.
Reportedly, Nationalist Congress Party head Sharad Pawar, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha chief Hemant Soren, DMK supremo M K Stalin will also be a part of the grand-opposition meeting. Even though West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had accepted the invitation, she will survey the cyclone-affected areas with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
BSP Supremo slams Congress
On Friday, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati took to Twitter to express her displeasure over the decision of the Congress Government in Rajasthan to charge migrant workers and demand additional compensation from the Uttar Pradesh Government for facilitating the transport of stranded students, amidst the Coronavirus lockdown.
Slamming the Rajasthan Congress, Mayawati alleged that the government earlier charged exorbitant fares from students for sending them home in buses and now playing politics over facilitating the journey of migrants to their hometown. “How far is this appropriate and humane?”, asked the BSP supremo.