Congress upset as LoPs not invited to Putin banquet, slams Tharoor for accepting call
Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi were reportedly ignored, prompting the Opposition party to say protocols were breached
The Opposition Congress was on Friday (December 5) expressed dismay over the fact that Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi, the leaders of Opposition (LoPs) in the Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha, respectively, were ignored for the banquet for Russian President Vladimir Putin. The Grand Old Party also took a dig at its MP Shashi Tharoor for accepting the invite.
Congress general-secretary in-charge communications and senior MP Jairam Ramesh confirmed in a post on X that the two Opposition leaders were not invited.
LoPs not invited, confirms Congress
“There has been speculation whether the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha and the Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha have been invited for tonight's official dinner in honour of President Putin. The two LoPs have not been invited,” he said.
The principal Opposition party’s media and publicity department head, Pawan Khera accused the Narendra Modi government of breaking protocols daily and not believing in democratic principles.
Follow details of Putin's visit to India
“There is no invite to both the LoPs, Mr (Mallikarjun) Kharge and Mr (Rahul) Gandhi. This comes as a surprise but I don't think we should be surprised. This government is known to be breaching all protocols. What else to say, ask the government,” he told PTI Videos on the sidelines of an event.
Congress leader reacts on Tharoor getting invite
When asked about Tharoor getting a call to the banquet and the Kerala MP accepting it, Khera said, “Ask Mr. Tharoor. All of us who are in the party, if our leaders don't get invited and we get invited, we need to question our own conscience and listen to our conscience. Politics has been played in inviting or not inviting people, which in itself is questionable and those who accept such an invite is also questionable.”
“We would have listened to our voice of conscience,” he added.
Earlier, Tharoor said there was a time when the chairman of the external affairs committee was routinely invited but that practice seems to have stopped from some years.
Also read: Shashi Tharoor slams Opposition over Parliament disruptions
“It has been resumed ...I have been invited, yes. I will definitely go,” the chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs said.
Tharoor, who many feel has seen a widening gap between him and the party, said he did not know on what basis invitations were sent, after he was asked about the leaders of the Opposition reportedly not getting an invite.
“I don't know on what basis invitations were sent. I think the custom that usually used to be followed was for a wide representation. Certainly, I remember in the olden days, they used to invite not only the LoPs, (but) various other cross section of representatives of different parties. It conveys a good impression.
“I dont know the basis (of invitation), this is all done by the government, by the protocol by the Rashtrapati Bhawan, what do I know. All I can say I have honoured to have been invited. Of course I will go,” Tharoor told reporters in the Parliament House complex.
Rahul, Priyanka criticised government
Rahul on Thursday (December 4) had alleged that the government tells visiting foreign dignitaries not to meet the Leader of the Opposition due to its "insecurity".
His remarks had come hours ahead of Putin's two-day visit to India.
Also read: Rahul links IndiGo turmoil to govt’s ‘monopoly model’, calls for level-playing field
The Congress leader had said it is a tradition that visiting foreign dignitaries meet the LoP but Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Ministry of External Affairs were not following this norm.
“Normally the tradition is that those who come from abroad have a meeting with the LoP. This used to happen during (Atal Bihari) Vajpayee ji's time, Manmohan Singh ji's time, it has been a tradition but what happens these days is that when foreign dignitaries come and when I go abroad, the government suggests to them to not meet the LoP,” Rahul had told reporters in Parliament House complex. His sister and MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra seconded his thought to say it did not augur well for the world’s largest democracy.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Kangana Ranaut later rebutted Rahul, saying if he wanted to become a leader like former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, he should join the BJP. She also said the Lok Sabha LoP’s national sentiments were questionable.
(With Agency inputs)