Why did the NCP skip the joint opposition meet

The Congress however played the incident down.

The NCP skipped the joint opposition meeting on Friday. The decision by the NCP to stay away from the meeting came as a jolt to the opposition which had something to smile about following the Rajya Sabha win by Ahmed Patel.

During the meeting which comprised leaders of 16 parties, Congress president Sonia Gandhi was authorised to form a small group to coordinate with like-minded parties on programmes to be organised in the next three months.

While the opposition was upbeat before the meeting, it received a jolt with the NCP deciding to stay away. The NCP justified the decision and said its leaders were very angry.

NCP MP, Praful Patel said that his party was upset as it was accused of not voting for Ahmed Patel despite having issued a whip in his favour. This is a Congress propaganda to project the NCP as a B-team of the BJP, he also said. This is being done to damage the credentials of the party ahead of the Gujarat elections.

The Congress however played the incident down. Ghulam Nabi Azad said that the NCP chief Sharad Pawar had spoken to him and said that he was unwell.

During the meeting West Bengal Chief Minister, Mamata Banerjee suggested that they take part in the public rally being organised by Lalu Prasad Yadav at Patna on August 27.

More such programmes should be taken up in Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu in the next three months, she suggested.

OneIndia News