At Sonia Iftar dinner, Mulayam conspicuous by absence

July 13, 2015 22:50

Samajwadi Party today stayed away from the Iftar dinner hosted by Congress President Sonia Gandhi but other Janata Parivar outfits like RJD and JD-U including Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar were prominent among those present.

Neither SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav attended the event nor did he depute any of his party leaders for the get together.

A Congress leader said that Yadav wrote a letter to Gandhi earlier in the day informing her that he had to rush to Lucknow for some "urgent work".

Senior BSP leader Satish Chandra Mishra was present while CPI-M leader Mohd Salim made a brief appearance. No other Left leader was seen.

The Iftar dinner saw the Bihar Chief Minister breaking bread with Gandhi. NCP chief Sharad Pawar was sitting on the same table as also Trinamool Congress leader Derek O'Brien.

Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, DMK leader Kanimozi, JD-U chief Sharad Yadav and his associate K C Tyagi were also present at the Iftar and were seated alongside Rahul Gandhi.

While RJD supremo Lalu Prasad was not present, he had deputed his party colleagues Prem Chand Gupta and Jaya Prakash Yadav.

Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was present so also senior leaders A K Antony and Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad.

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