SP skips Kharge's INDIA bloc lunch amid concerns over Congress coordination

The Samajwadi Party was not represented at a lunch hosted by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge for INDIA bloc parties on Wednesday, amid concerns within the SP over a lack of consultation ahead of Rahul Gandhi's surprise protests.

The Congress attributed the absence of some alliance partners to the short notice for the lunch, saying representatives of all INDIA bloc constituents had been invited.

The lunch at a south Indian restaurant on Janpath came hours before Opposition MPs were stopped for the second consecutive day from marching towards the Election Commission, leading to a standoff and their detention at Ashoka Road.

SP sources said party president Akhilesh Yadav was unhappy that he had not been informed in advance about Gandhi's decision to stage a sit-in at Akashvani Bhawan on Tuesday. They did not specify whether the concern was behind the SP's absence from Wednesday's lunch.

Congress sources said the lunch was decided upon late Tuesday night and invitations were sent to all alliance partners.

Representatives of Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP-SP also could not attend because of prior commitments, they said.

"All allies, including the SP, were invited to the lunch by Kharge ji's office after a decision was taken late last night," a Congress source said.

Congress general secretary in charge of communications Jairam Ramesh said all INDIA bloc parties had been invited, but the decision and communication came late.

"Therefore, it was natural that representatives from some parties could not participate in it. Some media outlets are making unnecessary comments about this," he posted on X.

Ramesh said the INDIA bloc and other Opposition parties remained united on issues including alleged "vote theft", the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and delimitation.

The SP sources, meanwhile, said Yadav had reservations about the manner in which Gandhi's Akashvani Bhawan sit-in was conducted without prior communication with alliance partners.

Yadav had participated in Tuesday's march towards the Election Commission seeking Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar's resignation. After police stopped the march and began detaining MPs, Gandhi entered the Akashvani premises and staged a sit-in that continued until evening.

According to the SP sources, concerns over coordination predated Tuesday's protest.

Yadav was also unhappy about being informed at the last minute about Gandhi's earlier surprise sit-in outside the prime minister's residence seeking the resignation of then Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, they said.

Yadav joined that protest despite the short notice, the sources said, but felt that last-minute communication should not become the norm in dealings between alliance partners.

The developments come as the Congress and SP prepare for next year's Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, with differences over seat-sharing having already triggered public comments from leaders of both parties.

The two parties had contested the 2024 Lok Sabha elections together in Uttar Pradesh, where the SP won 37 seats and the Congress six.