Jolt to Congress as SP, BSP skip meeting of opposition parties; Rahul says 'will overthrow BJP in 2019'

Earlier in the day in Mohali, Congress President Rahul Gandhi pledged to overthrow BJP from power in Delhi and accused the party of eroding the credibility of institutions like the judiciary, Army and media.

Image tweeted by @INCIndia

New Delhi: As Congress President Rahul Gandhi exuded the confidence of uprooting the BJP  government in 2019, the party received a jolt from Bahujan Samaj Party and Samajwadi Party, which skipped the meeting of opposition parties held in Delhi on the eve of the winter session of Parliament. The snubbing of the meeting by BSP and SP is being viewed as a major jolt to the Congress party which is attempting to forge a united front to take on the BJP in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Top leaders of more than a dozen parties including Congress and TMC met in the national capital, just a day ahead of the assembly poll results of Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Telangana and Mizoram. The meeting was coordinated by Andhra Pradesh chief minister and TDP Supremo N Chandrababu Naidu and a number of opposition leaders were invited. Sources said the main agenda of the meeting is to chart the future course of action for forging a front of non-BJP parties to take on the BJP. The meeting was attended by TMC chief Mamata Banerjee, DMK chief M K Stalin, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal. Former prime ministers Manmohan Singh and H D Deve Gowda also attended the meeting. Congress president Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi, NCP chief Sharad Pawar and National Conference supremo Farooq Abdullah, were also present. The others who took part were Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav, CPI-M general secretary Sitaram Yechury, CPI leaders Sudhakar Reddy and D Raja, Loktantrik Janata Dal leader Sharad Yadav and Jharkhand Vikas Morcha's (JVM) Babulal Marandi. BJP dubbed the opposition meet as a "photo opportunity" with its spokesperson Sambit Patra alleging it is a meeting of the "corrupt" to "save themselves". Will overthrow BJP in 2019: Rahul Gandhi in Mohali Earlier in the day in Mohali, Congress President Rahul Gandhi pledged to overthrow BJP from power in Delhi  and accused the party  of eroding the credibility of institutions like the judiciary, Army and media. He said his party will ensure that the BJP is removed from power in the 2019 general elections. "We will show the BJP its place and defeat it in elections. In 2019, we will ensure that the BJP is removed from the government in Delhi," Gandhi said during the re-launch of ‘Navjivan’ newspaper.