New Delhi: CPI(M) will be represented by its Rajya Sabha MP John Brittas at the INDIA bloc meeting Monday, sources said, even as the Left party awaits a response from the Congress over allegations during the Kerala Assembly election campaign.
According to souraces, CPI(M) general secretary M A Baby has recently written to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge seeking clarification on remarks by senior Congress leaders that suggested a political understanding between the CPI(M) and the BJP in Kerala.
The letter, copies of which were also shared with other INDIA bloc constituents, argued that such accusations were inconsistent with the spirit of cooperation that underpins the Opposition alliance.
The Left party has maintained that it is awaiting a clarification from the Congress on the matter.
Sources in the CPI(M) said the party has not received any response from the Congress so far, and Brittas is expected to flag the issue at the meeting.
In the communication, Baby had expressed concern that charges levelled by Congress leaders, including Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Kharge, went beyond electoral criticism, which raised questions about the functioning of an alliance formed to collectively challenge the BJP.
The issue has been a point of contention between the two parties since the Kerala Assembly elections.
Senior leaders of the Opposition INDIA bloc are scheduled to meet in the national capital Monday to discuss their joint strategy to take on the BJP-led government and reinforce Opposition unity.
TMC supremo and former West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, party general secretary Abhishek Banerjee, Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray, Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav, Rahul Gandhi and Kharge are among those likely to attend the meeting, as per sources.
The DMK and the AAP are unlikely to attend the meeting.
The meeting comes in the backdrop of the recent assembly elections in which TMC and DMK were ousted from power in West Bengal and Tamil Nadu.
