The Samajwadi Party (SP), the second-largest constituent of the INDIA bloc in the Lok Sabha with 37 MPs, stayed away from the lunch hosted by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday, citing a lack of timely communication from the Congress, as Opposition leaders met to discuss their next move on the “vote chori” issue.The SP’s absence from the strategy lunch came even as several other Opposition parties attended the meeting at an eatery on the Janpath road, following Tuesday’s dramatic protest against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, which ended with the detention of several leaders and the registration of an FIR.The Congress, however, sought to play down the development, saying the decision to host the lunch was taken only late on Tuesday night and invitations were sent around the same time, leaving little time for some parties to depute representatives.Congress general secretary and Rajya Sabha MP Jairam Ramesh said all INDIA bloc parties had been invited to the lunch, but the short notice made it difficult for some parties to send representatives.He said the Opposition remained united on the issues of alleged “vote theft”, the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and delimitation, and dismissed attempts to read too much into the absence of some parties from the meeting.The SP’s decision to skip the lunch is significant, as party chief Akhilesh Yadav had joined Tuesday’s march towards the Election Commission office and later participated in the protest after Opposition leaders were stopped by the police.The party has been part of the INDIA bloc’s campaign against the Election Commission and its handling of the electoral-roll revision exercise. Akhilesh had also shared the stage with other Opposition leaders during Tuesday’s mobilisation.