Left leaders unlikely to attend Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra finale in Mumbai

CPI-M and CPI leaders are unlikely to attend Congress' March 17 rally in Mumbai, marking the conclusion of Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, the Left sources said. The Congress leadership had extended invitations to CPI-M and CPI general secretaries Sitaram Yechury and D Raja and other INDIA bloc leaders to attend the yatra's finale.

"Senior CPI-M and CPI leaders are busy with election-related meetings and, therefore, will not be able to attend the meeting in Mumbai in connection with Gandhi's yatra conclusion. After all, it is a Congress function and we don't have to attend it," said a senior Left leader aware of the thinking.

The decision comes in the backdrop of the Left opposing Gandhi's candidature from his Wayanad seat in Kerala against a CPI candidate. The Left maintains that since Gandhi is a top leader of the anti-BJP bloc, he should have contested against a BJP candidate. They questioned why Gandhi has chosen a seat where the Left is his principal rival and BJP is a marginal player. The Left leaders also have a grouse about Congress "being not accommodative" about their demands for alliance in states like Telangana and Jharkhand.


Left-COngress Bengal Talks

Leaders of West Bengal Congress and the state's Left Front, it is learnt, have started talks for yet another alliance in West Bengal.