INDIA Meet Called By Congress Deferred After Top Allies Say Will Skip

The INDIA opposition bloc meeting to take place in Delhi tomorrow has been postponed, sources told NDTV this afternoon. The postponement comes shortly after Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Samajwadi Party boss Akhilesh Yadav both said they plan to skip the meet. On Monday, Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said she too would not attend. All three are senior members of the bloc; in fact, Nitish Kumar is widely seen as a founding member of the opposition grouping.

Earlier today sources told NDTV Nitish Kumar and Akhilesh Yadav would send representatives instead; the Janata Dal (United) leader was expected to send party President Rajiv Ranjan and senior figure Sanjay Jha, while Mr Yadav, a former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, was expected to send his uncle, and Rajya Sabha MP, Ramgopal Yadav.

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Sources, however, indicated that the other half of the Bihar government - the Rashtriya Janata Dal - would have been represented by its top leaders - party patriarch Lalu Prasad Yadav and his son Tejashwi Yadav, who is the Bihar Deputy Chief Minister.