Will attend INDIA bloc meeting in Mumbai: RLD chief Jayant Chaudhary

New Delhi: Rashtriya Lok Dal leader Jayant Chaudhary on Thursday said he will attend the opposition INDIA bloc's meeting in Mumbai on August 31 and September 1.

Chaudhary's assertion comes days after he skipped the voting in the Rajya Sabha on the Delhi services Bill, setting off another round of speculation about his future move. Members of the INDIA alliance had opposed the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Bill, 2023.

Parliament on Monday passed the contentious bill that gives the central government control over bureaucrats in the Delhi government with the Rajya Sabha approving it with 131 votes in favour and 102 against.

Sources close to Chaudhary, however, had attributed his absence to his wife's medical condition.

"I will surely attend the INDIA meeting in Mumbai," he told PTI.

The Jat leader did not attend the first meeting of the opposition parties in Patna. He attended the second round of the bloc's meeting where it was named the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA).

There has been speculation around the BJP reaching out to Chaudhary amid reports of his cooling equations with the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party. Both parties fought the 2022 state assembly polls in alliance.