With the former Prime Ministers and incumbent Chief Ministers all invited for the gala dinner at G20 venue for world leaders scheduled on Saturday, the leader of the principal Opposition party of country, Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge have been “bypassed” in the list of protocol as he has not been extended the honour by “President of Bharat” Draupadi Murmu.
Kharge also holds the important position in terms of protocol as the Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha — the upper house of Parliament — which is equivalent to a Union Cabinet Minister rank and holds a constitutional position.
Congress leaders said that Opposition not being extended invite for a summit is attack on democratic fabric of the country. Kharge meanwhile was in Chhattisgarh for election related rallies.
Kharge not being in the list of invitees resonated outside the country with former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi, in an interaction with international media at Brussels in Belgium, accusing the Modi Government of disrespecting the leaders of 60 per cent of India’s population.
The G20 dinner has sparked controversy since day one after the invitation of the dinner described Murmu as the “President of Bharat” instead of the customary “President of India”.
Murmu will host the dinner on Saturday at Bharat Mandapam, the venue for the G20 summit of world leaders.
The Chief Ministers of all States, along with all Union Ministers, have been invited to the dinner.
The heads of other Opposition parties as well as floor leaders in both Houses of Parliament have also not received invitations.
Though invited, former Prime Ministers Manmohan Singh and HD Deve Gowda will not attend the G20 dinner due to “health reasons”. TMC supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has confirmed his presence at the event.
According to sources, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann are also likely to attend the G20 dinner. Besides the CMs of the BJP-ruled States, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and his Tamil Nadu counterpart MK Stalin will attend the G20 dinner.
The grand old party has taken exception to Kharge’s exclusion for the dinner and it is likely the Chief Ministers of the Congress-ruled States of Karnataka, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan, would avoid being part of the dinner at Bharat Mandapam.
Chhatisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel said when Delhi is a no flying zone for G20 security then how can he attend the dinner.
While Rahul said G20 is a “good thing” happening but lack of an invitation to the largest Opposition party is reflective of the “type of thinking” of the Government. Rahul is currently on a three-nation European tour to Belgium, France and Norway.
Continuing with his barb at the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Waynad Lok Sabha member said there is a “full-scale assault” on the democratic institutions of India and there are concerns in the European Union (EU) quarters over this attempt to “stifle” the country’s democratic structures.
Rahul addressed a broad range of topics, including the Russia-Ukraine conflict, to say that the Opposition agrees with the Government’s current position on the issue.
The BJP previously dubbed Rahul as the “present-day Mir Jafar of Indian polity” who went overseas seeking help from foreign forces to become a “nawab” in India.
The ruling party had also said that the Gandhi scion has insulted and defamed India with his comments about India overseas, saying, “People have not given this right to him.”
Asked about the reaction of the European parliamentarians to some of these issues, Rahul replied, “They were very concerned and they felt that there is an attempt to stifle the democratic structures of India, for sure. I mean, they were very, very clear with us.” He held closed-door meetings with some members of the European Parliament (MEPs) in Brussels on Thursday.
When the media asked Rahul about the India-Bharat name row, he said he is perfectly happy with the name in the Constitution — India that is Bharat.
“These to me in a sense are panic reactions. There is a little bit of fear in the Government. These are distraction tactics. We of course came up with the name INDIA for our (Opposition) coalition and it’s a fantastic idea. This represents who we are. We consider ourselves to be the voice of India. So the name works very well,” Rahul Gandhi said.
“But it surely disturbed the Prime Minister enough that he wants to change the name of the country which is absurd. But that’s what it is,” he added.
He went on further to say that Prime Minister Modi comes up with some “dramatic, new” diversion tactic every time the opposition raises the issue of Adani, crony capitalism.
