The Congress Party on Friday claimed that its national president, Mallikarjun Kharge and Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi have not been invited to the President’s banquet (PHOTO: X)
On Friday, the Congress Party alleged that its national president, Mallikarjun Kharge and Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi were not invited to the Presidential banquet that was being hosted that evening in honour of the Russian President Vladimir Putin who was making a two-day state visit to India.
Whether the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha and the Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha have been invited to this dinner to celebrate President Putin has been a matter of speculation.
Jairam Ramesh, an MP in the Rajya Sabha, wrote in one of his X posts: The two LoPs have not been invited.
Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor on the other hand has been invited to participate in the dinner. He later affirmed that he was invited and said he would definitely be present at the event. Tharoor said he did not know the Leader of the Opposition was not invited and did not know on what ground invitations were given and said that he was pleased to be asked.
It was known that Tharoor, a former United Nations under-secretary-general with a long diplomatic history was invited due to his long-standing interest in Russian diplomacy, sources said.
Today, the state banquet of the Russian President Vladimir Putin with President Droupadi Murmu will take place in the evening at Rashtrapati Bhawan, a tradition dating back many years when heads of state come to stay in India, as is customary to celebrate their visit with a state dinner at the presidential palace.
At the same time, the Congress leader Pawan Khera swiped at Tharoor by stating that it is very surprising that an invitation was made and the invitation was also accepted.
There is a voice of conscience in everyone. When they do not invite my leaders and invite me, we ought to know why the game is being played, who is playing the game, and why we should not be part of it… As quoted by news agency ANI he said.
After the events of Operation Sindoor, Tharoor, recently, headed a multi-party mission to the world capitals to emphasize the Indian position on the terrorism sponsored by Pakistan and its zero tolerance to terrorism.
He has come out as one of the most vocal speakers to vocalize the voice of India both in the operation Sindoor and in the diplomatic offensive against Pakistan in the international arena in the aftermath of the Pahalgam attack.
The Congress elder has repeatedly stood by PM Modi on numerous occasions. In an article published earlier in June this year, Tharoor commented that the energy, dynamism and readiness to interact with people of Prime Minister Narendra Modi is a key asset to India in the global scenario but needs more support.
According to Tharoor, the outreach on diplomacy after the operation Sindoor was a time of national determination and good communication.
The Prime Minister Office later reposted the article on X by Tharoor, and said, Lok Sabha MP and former Union Minister Dr. Shashi Tharoor writes- Lessons from the global outreach of Operation Sindoor.
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