While HD Deve Gowda of the JD(S) and Rajiv Ranjan 'Lalan' Singh of the JD(U) had written to Congress head Mallikarjun Kharge expressing their inability to attend the occasion, leaders of the Trinamool Congress, RJD, Samajwadi Party, and CPI(M) failed to attend too. Shiv Sena (Thackeray), NCP, TDP, BSP, RLSP, HAM, MDMK, and Kerala Congress also skipped the meeting.
Whipping up emotions against "outsiders" in Jammu & Kashmir, Rahul Gandhi said, "Earlier, locals of Jammu used to do business here. Locals of Jammu & Kashmir used to run Jammu & Kashmir. Today 'outsiders' are running it."
"It is Congress who has divided Bharat in the past. With what right is Rahul Gandhi coming here to meet Kashmiri people. He has done nothing for the state. Where was he when lakhs of Kashmiris were dying. This is all sham, a lie," one of the protesters said.