Indian National Lok Dal patriarch and former Haryana Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala met CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury on Friday and invited him for the joint opposition rally planned on the birth anniversary of his father Devi Lal on September 25.
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Mr. Chautala also met NCP chief Sharad Pawar and also invited him for the same rally. It is 109th birth anniversary of Devi Lal which is celebrated as Samman Diwas.
Speaking to The Hindu, Mr. Yechury, said, that as of now, he has not made up his mind about attending the rally. “Mr. Chautala came and met me. I have known his father too. We will be speaking to other opposition leaders before taking the call to attend or not,” he said.
Till now, Mr. Chautala has not extended the invitation to the Congress though he has invited chief ministers of West Bengal, Telangana, Bihar, Mamata Banerjee, K Chandrashekhar Rao and Nitish Kumar, respectively. While the other two have confirmed their attendance, Ms. Banerjee is yet to do so. According to sources in Trinamool, on September 25, she is tied down in Kolkata in connection to Durga Puja celebrations. The other invites include Samajwadi Party’s Mulayam Singh Yadav, JD(S) leader and former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda and TDP President Chandrababu Naidu.
When asked if the rally organised by Mr. Chautala can be treated as programme precluding a possible formation of anti-BJP front, Mr. Yechury said, “We are holding discussions on several levels. It is essential for the opposition parties to work together because the BJP is out to destroy all Constitutional Institutions in the country.” Though, he ruled a pre-poll alliance saying that the political fight against the BJP has to be fought at State level and the opposition can come together only once the Lok Sabha results come in.