Congress reach out: Azad calls RS floor leaders for lunch

AIADMK leader V Maitreyan did not attend the lunch although he was invited.

While Azad said the lunch with the leaders was basically to know and understand each other, the Congress reach- out assumes significance given the fact that the ruling NDA does not enjoy a majority in the Upper House.

The possible denial of Leader of Opposition post to the Congress in Lok Sabha has already worsened the battle between the Congress and the ruling BJP.

The face-off between its members and those of the BJP in Lok Sabha has made the Trinamool more bitter towards the BJP.

“Elections are just over. It is a fact that we fought according to party line. But now many issues will come up and time to time we can consult each other on issues. Every party, of course, will take its own position but there can be some issues on which common positions can be taken by the opposition parties,” a senior leader who attended the lunch said.

Left’s Sitaram Yechury and D Raja, Trinamool Congress’s Sukhendu Sekhar Roy and Derek O’ Brien, JD(U)’s Sharad Yadav and K C Tyagi, SP’s Ram Gopal Yadav and Naresh Aggarwal, DMK’s Kanimozhi, JMM’s Sanjiv Kumar attended the lunch. NCP leader Praful Patel, RJD’s Prem Chand Gupta and representatives of the National Conference — all of them UPA constituents — were also there.

Sources said BSP’s Satish Chandra Misra could not attend as he had to rush to the Supreme Court.