The absence of Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav and Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray from the crucial INDIA bloc meeting in Delhi drew a jibe from the ruling BJP, which claimed that opposition parties were unwilling to work under Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.

The meeting was convened to chalk out a roadmap for a joint agitation over alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and to demand the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.

Akhilesh Yadav is not attending the meeting as he is reportedly occupied with the party’s Rajya Sabha nomination process. He has, however, sent party representatives to the meeting. Thackeray, meanwhile, is set to participate virtually alongside party colleagues due to pre-scheduled engagements in Mumbai.

“The INDIA alliance had already fallen apart before the meeting. Akhilesh ji is busy elsewhere. Uddhav ji will join virtually, not in person. The INDIA bloc does not accept the leadership of Rahul Gandhi. How can the country accept someone as a leader whom the Congress party itself does not recognise as one?” Union Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, former party chief Rahul Gandhi, AICC general secretaries Jairam Ramesh and K.C. Venugopal, TMC leaders Mamata Banerjee and Abhishek Banerjee, and leaders of parties including the CPI, CPI(M), NCP (SP) and Shiv Sena (UBT) are expected to attend Wednesday’s meeting.

Asked about Akhilesh Yadav’s absence, Venugopal said the SP president was occupied with the Rajya Sabha nomination process and had deputed party leaders to attend the meeting.

“I spoke to Akhilesh Yadav, and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge also spoke to him. He has the Rajya Sabha election nominations to take care of, but his party leaders are attending,” Venugopal said.

Several other opposition parties, including the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Biju Janata Dal (BJD), have also decided to stay away from the meeting.

The DMK, which recently announced its exit from the INDIA bloc, said it would support in Parliament the Opposition’s move seeking the removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, despite no longer being part of the alliance.

Meanwhile, a series of hoardings taking potshots at opposition leaders over their alleged contrasting positions on the Election Commission appeared across Delhi on Wednesday, ahead of the INDIA bloc meeting.

Although the posters did not identify their sponsors, the BJP criticised Rahul Gandhi, saying opposition parties had begun questioning his leadership even before the meeting.

“Who all will distance themselves from Rahul Gandhi will become clear today in the INDIA alliance meeting,” Ashish Usha Agrawal, national convenor of the BJP Media Department, said in a post on X.

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