Why Samajwadi Party skipped INDIA bloc's Janpath lunch meet

As Opposition MPs gathered at Sagar Ratna in Janpath for a lunch hosted by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday afternoon, the Samajwadi Party was missing. The absence of Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and other party MPs was conspicuous: Yadav and others participated in the INDIA bloc's mega march to the Election Commission on Tuesday, and the Kannauj MP was detained and released later.

Wednesday's lunch meet, followed by a move towards Jantar Mantar, appeared to be the Opposition's strategy to keep the pressure on the government and further drum up its campaign for Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar's resignation over the issues surrounding the Special Intensive Revision of voter rolls.

What Congress said

The Congress downplayed the absence of Samajwadi Party MPs. They said most MPs of the Akhilesh Yadav-led party left Delhi last night or this morning and couldn't attend the lunch and protest that followed. In fact, the issue also came up during the lunch where most other INDIA bloc parties were present.

Congress general secretary (organization) KC Venugopal, who coordinated the meeting, told INDIA bloc leaders at Sagar Ratna that the Samajwadi Party MPs left Delhi by the time they were called for the latest protest plan.

Amid the buzz, senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh posted a clarification on X, stressing that all alliance parties were invited for lunch. "But the decision for the lunch had been taken late last night and communicated. It was therefore natural that some parties could not be represented. There is needless comment in some sections of the media on it. INDIA and other Opposition parties are united and stand in solidarity against Vote Chori, SIR and Delimitation," he said.

What SP leaders say

Samajwadi Party leaders that The Indian Express spoke to blamed patchy coordination by the Congress. A Samajwadi Party MP said, "Samajwadi Party did not attend the lunch of Congress because of lack of proper coordination from the Congress side. Samajwadi Party MPs left for their constituencies on Tuesday evening after the protest against the Chief Election Commissioner ended. By that time, there was no information about the lunch.

"Had the Congress communicated properly about the lunch programme either to party president Akhilesh Yadav or senior leader Ram Gopal Yadav, MPs from constituencies near Delhi or those still in Delhi would have been asked to participate in the lunch," he said.

A Samajwadi Party spokesperson said, "I did not receive any invitation call from the Congress or any direction in this regard from Samajwadi Party leadership. The leadership is upset with statements by certain leaders of Congress on the alliance, but that is no reason for skipping the lunch."

Samajwadi Party spokesperson Rajendra Chaudhary said Akhilesh Yadav returned to Lucknow Tuesday night. "It is possible that the Samajwadi Party received the invitation late. I don't know much about this. But there is no specific reason to skip the lunch today."

Sources in Samajwadi Party said the leadership and the MPs are also upset with Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra stealing the show at the INDIA bloc march on Tuesday with the sit-in at Akashvani Bhavan. "But that is not the reason for skipping lunch today," said a party MP.

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"It is is true that we are not happy with poor coordination from Congress regarding the protest at Akashvani Bhavan. It was supposed to be a joint protest of the INDIA bloc and not of the Gandhis. The next big election in the country is in Uttar Pradesh where Samajwadi Party has a bigger stake than Congress. Akhilesh Yadav raised the concerns about SIR in Uttar Pradesh more aggressively and effectively while Congress leadership only took symbolic steps during SIR in UP earlier this year. But Congress in Delhi tried to portray that only it was serious about SIR," a party leader said.

The Uttar Pradesh subplot

The developments surrounding the INDIA bloc offensive against the Election Commission are playing out against a key backdrop: the Uttar Pradesh election. In the politically significant heartland state, the Samajwadi Party and the Congress are allies, and as the polls approach, a tussle over seat distribution has begun.

The Congress is demanding about 150-200 seats out of the total 403 in Uttar Pradesh, irking Samajwadi Party leaders. Also, the Samajwadi Party has been upset due to public statements by some Congress leaders, including Imran Masood. Masood was last week appointed the UP Congress working president, and the move has reportedly not amused the Samajwadi Party leadership.