Rahul Gandhi to host INDIA bloc dinner meeting on August 7, first since Lok Sabha elections

Congress MP Rahul Gandhi will host leaders of the INDIA bloc for a dinner meeting on August 7 in New Delhi. (File Photo: PTI)

Congress MP and Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi will host leaders of the INDIA bloc, formed ahead of the Lok Sabha elections last year, for a dinner meeting in the New Delhi on Thursday, August 7.

Besides chalking out a joint strategy on the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and the Opposition's candidate for the Vice-Presidential elections scheduled for September 9, the meeting will also discuss a protest march to the office of the Election Commission of India that the Opposition plans to hold on Friday, August 8.

The protest march will be held against the ongoing Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls currently underway in Bihar. The Opposition, which has virtually held both houses of Parliament to ransom on the issue during this session, has claimed that the EC's exercise is beyond its constitutional mandate and is aimed at disenfranchising genuine voters who are not aligned with the Bharatiya Janata Party.

Notably, the INDIA bloc will be meeting for the first time in over a year. Formed ahead of the Lok Sabha elections in 2024, the Opposition bloc has not met even once since its defeat in the polls.

Amid several differences of opinion within the INDIA bloc parties on a range of issues, the Congress party has also come in for flak for failing to make any attempt to keep the grouping together. Several Opposition parties have in past months pointed out that with Congress being the largest party in the grouping, the onus of keeping the INDIA bloc also lies with them.

Invitees who have confirmed their presence at the dinner meeting include Samajwadi Party (SP) national president Akhilesh Yadav and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav. The Trinamool Congress, which hasn't been on good terms with the Congress, has said it will attend the meeting though it wasn't immediately clear which leader it would depute.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK president MK Stalin, who is still recuperating from a health issue, is expected to join if his condition permits. Leaders from the Shiv Sena (UBT), Nationalist Congress Party (SP), Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, and other INDIA bloc constituents are also expected to attend the meeting.

The meeting also holds significance in view of the upcoming elections in several states including Bihar this year, and West Bengal, Assam, Kerala and Tamil Nadu next year.

While the Opposition failed to put up a united face on the Hindenburg issue in Parliament, the SIR issue has offered them common ground to come together on the larger issue of elections being "hijacked" and regroup for the coming electoral challenges.