New Delhi (PTI): The AIADMK on Sunday night skipped the dinner hosted by the BSP chief Mayawati to formulate a common strategy for the 'Third Front' for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.

It was not immediately known why the Jayalalithaa-led party did not attend the dinner for which Ms. Mayawati had invited leaders of all the 'Third Front' parties who attended the Tumkur rally on Thursday.

Significantly, AIADMK leader V. Maitreyan attended a meeting of the 'Third Front' parties sans the BSP earlier in the day.

Asked why no representative of the AIADMK was present at the dinner, Mr. Maitreyan told PTI that he had instructions from the party chief only to attend the meeting of the 'Third Front' leaders, held at the CPI(M) headquarters here just three hours before Ms. Mayawati's dinner.

Before going for the dinner, leaders of the the 10-party combineissued a joint statement resolving to work together to defeat the Congress and the BJP in the general elections.

The meeting at the CPI(M) headquarters was attended by CPI(M) leaders Prakash Karat and Sitaram Yechury, CPI's A.B.Bardhan and D. Raja, RSP leaders T.J. Chandrachoodan and Abani Roy, Forward Bloc's D. Biswas, JD(S) leader H.D. Deve Gowda, TDP chief N. Chandrababu Naidu, TRS leader K. Chandrasekhar Rao, and BJD's Jay Panda, besides Mr. Maitreyan.