INDIA bloc leaders likely to meet on June 1 to assess LS poll performance

New Delhi: The top leaders of the Opposition INDIA bloc are likely to meet in the national capital on June 1 to assess their performance in the Lok Sabha elections and chalk out their strategy ahead of the results.

The sources said the proposed meeting will be convened in the afternoon of June 1 when the last phase of polling will be underway.

Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge, who is one of the senior-most leaders of the Opposition bloc, has convened the meeting, they said.

The sources in the Trinamool Congress (TMC) said party supremo Mamata Banerjee, general secretary Abhishek Banerjee and other top leaders will be voting on the day and hence, will be unable to attend the meeting and pointed out that the party has so far attended all meetings of the Opposition bloc.

The TMC has conveyed this to the organisers, the sources added.

Voting will take place on nine seats in West Bengal on June 1, including two seats in Kolkata - Kolkata Dakshin and Kolkata Uttar. The other constituencies that go to polls in the state include Jadavpur, Dum Dum, Barasat, Basirhat, Jayanagar, Mathurapur and Diamond Harbour.

During the meeting, the Opposition leaders will discuss their strategy ahead of the June 4 results and assess their performance in the seven-phase elections, they said.

The Opposition alliance has been claiming that it will be able to stop the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) from returning to power at the Centre and cobble together a government of its own.