Politics

SP Leader Skips Kharge’s Lunch, Says Future Meetings May Be Over Tea or Samosas

By Vivek Dubey

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav clarified on Wednesday that he would not attend Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge’s lunch for INDIA bloc MPs, saying the absence was not a sign of disengagement. Yadav added that future gatherings could take the form of a tea meeting or even a samosa‑sharing session, and that diplomatic efforts would continue. He had taken part in the INDIA bloc’s protest on Tuesday’s first day, when opposition MPs marched toward the Election Commission demanding Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation. Yadav was among those detained by Delhi Police during that protest. He did not join Rahul Gandhi and other Congress leaders in their later sit‑in at Akashvani Bhavan, where they remained for hours before being detained, and later returned to Lucknow. On Wednesday, Yadav and other SP MPs also stayed away from Kharge’s lunch at Sagar Ratna on Janpath and the subsequent protest march to Jantar Mantar. The absence raised questions about coordination between the SP and Congress, the two main constituents of the INDIA bloc, ahead of the 2027 Uttar Pradesh assembly elections. The lunch was organized as opposition MPs sought to plan their next steps in the campaign against the Election Commission over the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls and allegations of “vote chori.” After the lunch, the MPs boarded buses to Jantar Mantar, where they staged another protest demanding the CEC’s resignation. Rahul Gandhi, who was detained by police while heading to Jantar Mantar, reiterated that the opposition would continue its protest until Kumar resigns, stating, “We are not going to stop protesting till Gyanesh Kumar resigns. This is a fight to protect the most sacred thing in this country. There is nothing that Narendra Modi and Amit Shah can do that will stop us,” in a post on X.