The meeting of Opposition parties planned for June 12 in Patna has been deferred, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said on Monday. The scheduled meeting has been postponed since the Congress was considering sending a representative other than party president Mallikarjun Kharge which would not be acceptable to any of the participating parties, Nitish said.

“We had received the support of most parties for the Opposition meeting scheduled for June 12, barring Congress. We have asked Congress party to discuss and let us know… We want all heads of parties to come… Any other representative is unacceptable. When Congress began to discuss on whether or not the party president will attend the meeting, even other parties began to object,” Nitish said addressing reporters in Patna.

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The new date for the meeting will be communicated once a decision has been taken, he added.

The decision follows the Congress’ hesitation in being part of the Opposition meeting that was mooted to Nitish by his West Bengal counterpart Mamata Banerjee. The Congress is believed to have made up its mind on not sending either party president Mallikarjun Kharge or party leader Rahul Gandhi to the meeting.

The meeting, seen as a part of Nitish’s efforts to bring together all Opposition parties under one roof to put up a formidable fight against the Bharatiya Janata Party, was expected to witness the participation of several prominent leaders, including chief ministers of several Opposition-ruled states.

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While party presidents like TMC’s Mamata, NCP’s Sharad Pawar, Shiv Sena (UBT)’s Uddhav Thackeray, and JMM’s Hemant Soren were among those who had confirmed their attendance, Congress was seen dragging its feet on confirming its attendance.

Besides the Congress, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK chief MK Stalin had expressed his unavailability for the meeting on account of some official engagement and said that a representative of the party will be present.

The now-deferred meeting was the first time the Opposition parties were getting together to discuss the way forward in view of the Lok Sabha elections. Opposition parties have previously joined hands for issues including Adani, Rahul Gandhi’s disqualification, and the row over the new Parliament building. However, this was the first time they were getting together on an issue outside Parliament.