 "Demonetisation: Cracks surface in Opposition unity as Parliament winter session ends")
Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and former PM Manmohan Singh were part of the Opposition delegation including TMC, RJD, JD-U which petitioned the President against note ban and told him how the government did not allow them to speak on the issue in the Lok Sabha.
The development came hours after Rahul Gandhi led a Congress delegation to PM Modi and urged him to waive off loans of small farmers who were in distress and were also suffering due to the impact of note ban.
"We urged the PM to waive off farmer loans. He listed to us but did not give an assurance. The farmers are suffering across the country," Rahul said after the meeting.
"We should meet often," is how the PM responded to Rahul, said the sources.
The SP, BSP, NCP and Left parties deciding to stay away from the march to the president, came days after Rahul led around 15 Opposition parties inside Parliament to allege he had incriminating evidence of corruption against PM Modi.
While the Left parties have maintained that there was no point taking the note ban protests to the President as it was done through an executive order by the Modi government, the SP, BSP and NCP were miffed that the Congress was trying to upstage them as a champion of the small farmers.
In poll-bound Uttar Pradesh, the SP and the BSP don't want to cede this space to the Congress, said the sources. NCP chief Sharad Pawar, who held the agriculture portfolio during UPA government, too fancies himself as a leader of the farmers and was not too pleased with Rahul's smart move.
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In September Rahul led a month-long kisan yatra across UP to mobilise the farmers.
The move was clever ploy by the Congress in anticipation that PM may announce some sops for the farmers in the New Year using the large sums of money that has been deposited in the banks post November 8.
Interestingly, the Congress and the Left parties had stayed away from West Bengal Mamata Banerjee's solo show on December 16 when she led a protest march against note ban to the president. Only AAP, Shiv Sena and NC joined her.
However, towards the end of the session, TMC chose to work closely with the Congress.
A united opposition did not allow the parliament to function till PM Modi apologised in the upper house and agreed to a debate with voting in the lower house. The centre said note ban was done in national interest and was backed by most people. On Friday the two houses were adjourned sine die.
Just days ago, Congress insiders talked about taking the note ban protests to the streets in coordination with the regional parties but the SP, BSP, NCP and Left response has made it clear that each one of them will have to be on their own.
Unperturbed, the Congress has decided to scale up its note ban protests across the country with Rahul leading the charge in poll-bound UP, Goa, and Uttarakhand.
He, however, discussed the pros and cons of the note ban with select party lawmakers on December 14 and asked state units to gauge public sentiment on the ground.
Congress insiders said the note ban has brought hardships to millions of poor and middle class and the party needs to tap into this public anger.