NCP skips meeting called by Congress

Mumbai: Rahul Gandhi may have been accompanied by Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee in New Delhi, but the Congress’s main partner in the opposition, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), was conspicuous by its absence. The NCP had earlier said that it would boycott the meeting called by the Congress in the national capital to ramp up its attack on the Narendra Modi-led government over demonetisation.

NCP spokesperson Nawab Malik said, “In the (last) five to six Parliament sessions, the NCP was with all the opposition parties. But Congress (leaders) recently went to meet the PM by themselves. A question has been raised on the unity among opposition parties.” Mr Malik was referring to the meeting between the Gandhi-led delegation and PM Modi.

“We believe that all opposition parties should be together and, for that, a definite plan of action should be prepared, which isn’t there right now and, hence, we did not participate,” said Mr Malik.

Pawar-PM bond:
Meanwhile, the bonhomie between PM Modi and NCP chief Sharad Pawar over the past few days has been the talk of town. The two shared the dais as well during the Pune Metro inauguration. There has been talk about their friendship in political circles, with BJP ally Shiv Sena having criticised it on several occasions.