Oppn Meet Over Anti-CAA protests, Campus Violence; Sena, DMK, AAP Skip Meet 

NEW DELHI: Amid the ongoing Citizenship Act stir, Opposition parties led by Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Monday have called for a meeting to deliberate on the current political situation in the country.

However, Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati, Congress ally in Tamil Nadu, DMK, Aam Aadmi Party have not attended the meet.

Meanwhile, certain media reports suggest that the Shiv Sena in Maharashtra which is an alliance of Congress have stayed away from the meet as they did not get any formal invite. The Sena had voted for the Bill in Lok Sabha but under pressure from the Congress and NCP, abstained from voting in the Rajya Sabha.

NCP supremo Sharad Pawar, Left leaders Sitaram Yechury and D Raja, JMM leader and Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren, LJD chief Sharad Yadav, Rashtriya Lok Samata Party leader Upendra Kushwaha, RJD leader Manoj Jha, National Conference leader Hasnain Masoodi, besides Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Ahmed Patel and former prime minister Manmohan Singh were among those present.

Last week, Sonia Gandhi had termed the CAA as a "discriminatory and divisive" law whose "sinister" purpose was to divide people on religious lines, and asserted that the NPR (National Population Register) in form and content was "disguised NRC (National Register of Citizens)".

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