Upendra Kushwaha At 21-Party Meet

NEW DELHI: Representative
The leaders of 21 opposition parties are meeting in Delhi today as part of the attempt to stitch together a front to take on the BJP in next year’s general elections. But the list of parties attending the meeting — projected as an effort to sink differences in the interests of democracy and the nation — is seen as a marker of the challenges such a front may face.
While Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, whose rivalry with the Congress is as bitter as the one with the BJP, is attending, the big two from Uttar Pradesh — Mayawati and her ally, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav — are giving it a miss. Uttar Pradesh is the state that sends the highest number of lawmakers to parliament and their absence is expected to weaken any front against the BJP.

While Mayawati has indicated that her doors are open for an alliance for 2019, both parties appear to be smarting after the seat-sharing talks for the current round of assembly elections fell through. Last month, Mr Yadav said he was “thankful” that there’s no alliance with the Congress. ” It is because of their faulty policies that the BJP is in power today,” Mr Yadav had said.

The only leader from Uttar Pradesh attending the meet is Upendra Kushwaha – the chief of RLSP (Rashtriya Lok Samata Party) — who after months of speculation, quit the NDA today. Mr Kushwaha, who has been upset with the lion’s share of Bihar seats granted to another ally, Nitish Kumar, has said he was “dejected and betrayed” by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership.

Besides Mr Naidu, seen as the prime mover of the opposition front, his neighbor from south, DMK chief MK Stalin has pitched in to smooth out the creases.