INDIA bloc's fourth meeting on December 19 in Delhi: Congress's Jairam Ramesh

The fourth meeting of the Opposition INDIA bloc has been postponed again and will be held on December 19 in Delhi, said Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh on Sunday. He did not give any reasons why the meeting was postponed from December 17.

Earlier, the meeting was postponed to December 17 after top leaders in the alliance, including Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin, Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren, and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav decided to skip the meeting which was first called on December 6.

The meeting on December 6 was called by the Congress on the day the election results of Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Telangana and Rajasthan were announced. As the BJP crossed the halfway mark in three states, the meeting of the Opposition bloc was announced.

The Congress party was trounced in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh and is now left with only Himachal Pradesh in the northern belt. It is ruling in only three states on its own and is in power in Bihar and Jharkhand as a junior partner in alliance with regional parties.