Cong, BSP yet to confirm attendance at Jan 19 rally: TMC

The Congress and the BSP are yet to confirm their participation in the mega opposition rally proposed by the Trinamool Congress (TMC) here on January 19 ahead of the general elections.

Leaders of various other opposition parties have already confirmed their participation, TMC sources said.

West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee had earlier in the day said that she had a telephonic conversation with Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav and that he had assured his presence at the rally.

"Such a major meeting of opposition parties has not happened in recent times," she told reporters at the state secretariat.

A vociferous critic of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), she has been touring the country for the last one year, attempting to build a strong opposition front to challenge the saffron party in the Lok Sabha polls.

On Saturday, Banerjee had welcomed the SP-Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) alliance in Uttar Pradesh for the Parliamentary polls.

The TMC has invited several opposition parties including the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), the Janata Dal (Secular), the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), the People's Democratic Party (PDP), the National Conference (NC) and the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) among others for the mega rally to be convened by Banerjee at the Brigade Parade grounds here.

According to Congress sources, the party has not yet decided whether it wants to be part of the rally and if its top leaders-- chief Rahul Gandhi and United Progressive Alliance (UPA) chairperson Sonia Gandhi-- would be present on the occasion.

The West Bengal Congress, however, wants Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi to stay away from the rally and instead send a party leader, as Banerjee, who was invited to the swearing-in ceremony of Kamal Nath in Madhya Pradesh last month, had skipped the event and sent party MP Dinesh Trivedi instead.