Many parties stay out of march to Rashtrapati Bhavan

NEW DELHI: A team of MPs from some Opposition parties on Friday met President Pranab Mukherjee to complain about the note replacement drive and the logjam in Parliament, but the bigger news was that many parties who were part of the united Opposition protests in Parliament chose not to join the delegation.

While some said that Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi’s meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, earlier in the day, on the farmer’s issue had angered many Opposition parties that ensured a united Opposition attack on the PM in Parliament, some others said there were electoral compulsions for regional rivals not to rally behind Congress apart from government pressure on some ‘vulnerable’ leaders of other parties.

“I see a lot politicking and undercutting beginning now within Opposition parties after the united show in Parliament… who knows the heat may have been turned on some of them, making them wary of continuing the offensive against the government,” said a leader of a party who was part of the delegation.

CPM’s absence was seen as its reluctance to be rubbing shoulders with Trinamool Congress though party chief Sitaram Yechury questioned the political utility of visiting Rashtrapati Bhavan. “We had asked earlier what the President would do on the issue.

Also read: Unease in Congress as Rahul Gandhi leads team to PM Modi

We should rather go to the public,” Yechury said. Those who led the delegation included Congress president Sonia Gandhi, former PM Manmohan Singh, Rahul Gandhi, JDU leader Sharad Yadav, Trinamool leader Sudhip Bandhopadyaya and RJD’s Jayaprakash Yadav.

“In our memorandum, we told the President that we wanted a discussion on demonetisation in Parliament and on problems faced by farmers, small traders and the common man,” Congress Lok Sabha leader Mallikarjun Kharge said.

“Farmers do not have money for seeds, small traders are facing cash crunch. We apprised the President of the woes of the common man triggered by the demonetisation move,” said Sharad Yadav.

We will continue to oppose the government’s anti-people policies and initiatives in the days to come too, said Bandopadhyaya.