Sonia To Chair Opposition Parties Meet On CAA Today; BSP, TMC Likely To Skip

The Congress has invited all like-minded parties to attend the meeting, with an aim to formalise a joint strategy on the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) and alleged police brutality against students.

(AFP)

New Delhi: The meeting of opposition parties called by Congress president Sonia Gandhi against the Citizenship Amendment Act is scheduled to take place on Monday at the Parliament annexe in Delhi at 2 p.m. The Bahujan Samaj Party and the Trinamool Congress will be skipping the meeting, while Shiv Sena has said that it has not been invited. BSP Supremo Mayawati took to Twitter to announce that her party will not be a part of the opposition parties meet angered over the defection of a BSP MLA to Congress in Rajasthan. "It is known that despite the support of the BSP to the Rajasthan Congress Government from outside, the Congress has for the second time broken the BSP MLAs and added them in their party, which is complete betrayal," she said in her tweet. The Congress has invited all like-minded parties to attend the meeting, with an aim to formalise a joint strategy on the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) and alleged police brutality against students. Congress sources said they are confident that all opposition parties of the opposition would attend Monday's meeting. While Congress expects the Samajwadi Party and its new alliance partner Shiv Sena to attend the meeting, Shiv Sena has said that it has not been invited in the meeting. The Congress Working Committee (CWC) has already sought withdrawal of CAA and National Population Register. The Congress-ruled states are likely to adopt resolution on the issue as CWC has already taken a stand on it. In a meeting on Saturday, the CWC, after passing a resolution, said: "the Narendra Modi-led Central government has unleashed the brute state power to suppress, subjugate and stifle the voice of youth and students across the country". (with inputs from IANS)