A banquet invite has sparked a political row within the Congress party after MP Shashi Tharoor received an invitation to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s state dinner.
However, Opposition leaders Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge were not invited to the event held at Rashtrapati Bhavan in honour of Putin. This comes a day after Rahul Gandhi accused the Modi government of breaking tradition, claiming it does not want Opposition leaders to meet the Russian President.
Congress leader Jairam Ramesh confirmed that both Gandhi and Kharge were excluded from the guest list, while Tharoor said he plans to attend. The decision to invite Tharoor while leaving out senior Opposition leaders has triggered reactions within the party, with spokesperson Pawan Khera calling it surprising that the invite was both issued and accepted.