Left keeps away from PM's dinner

Against the backdrop of the current chill in their relations, Left party leaders are keeping away from a dinner being hosted Tuesday night by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to allied parties, ahead of the Budget Session of Parliament.

Even some of the leaders present in the capital may not attend it. Left sources said there has been no conscious decision to keep away from the dinner and that top leaders were all out of the capital.

On Monday they have had a detailed discussion on various issues with the Prime Minister and United Progressive Alliance Chairperson Sonia Gandhi at the UPA-Left Coordination Committee meeting, they added.

Revolutionary Socialist Party leader Abani Roy said the dinner meeting is of "broader UPA."

The Left parties have already expressed their views and in the UPA meeting they would discuss these. "It is unnecessary to go there," he said.