INDIA bloc postponed after top leaders decide to skip

The Opposition INDIA bloc meeting, which was slated to be held on Wednesday, has been postponed as top leaders, including Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren, and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, decided to give it a miss.The meeting - called by Congress boss Mallikarjun Kharge on Sunday,will now likely be held in the third week of this month "at a date convenient to all".The postponement comes shortly after   Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Samajwadi Party boss Akhilesh Yadav both plan to skip the meet. On Monday Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said she too would not attend. All three are senior members of a bloc supposed to unite the opposition to take on the BJP in November's state polls and next year's Lok Sabha election, in which Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to bid for an unprecedented third consecutive term.
According to sources, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin would not be able to travel and make it to the meeting as the Chennai airport was shut due to Cyclone Michaung, Nitish Kumar was unwell and Mamata Banerjee and Akhilesh Yadav had intimated that she had prior commitments.The party was trounced in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh and is now left with only Himachal Pradesh in the north. It is ruling in only three states on its own and is in power in Bihar and Jharkhand as a junior partner in alliance with regional parties.