Congress MP Shashi Tharoor attended the state banquet held for Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Rashtrapati Bhawan on Friday, and was seen interacting with other invitees, including Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar.
Tharoor’s presence at the state dinner for Putin caught attention on Friday as the Congress claimed that neither of the leaders of the Opposition, Rahul Gandhi or Mallikarjun Kharge, was extended an invitation.
In a video shared by the news agency ANI, Tharoor, who heads the parliamentary standing committee on external affairs, could be seen talking to Nirmala Sitharaman, and Union Ministers S Jaishankar and Piyush Goyal, among others, were also present.
This comes amid the leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, claiming that opposition leaders were not being allowed to meet foreign dignitaries, a claim that the BJP denied.
The banquet was held on the second day of Putin’s two-day visit to India, his first since the war in Ukraine began.
Before the banquet, the Russian President held bilateral summit talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Hyderabad House, in which both leaders affirmed the friendship between New Delhi and Moscow.
Congress says no invitation for the leaders of the opposition
The Congress said on Friday that neither its party chief, Rajya Sabha leader of the opposition Mallikarjun Kharge, nor his Lok Sabha counterpart, Rahul Gandhi, were invited to the state banquet in honour of visiting Russian President Vladimir Putin.
According to party officials, an invitation to attend the dinner was extended to Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, who did attend the event.
“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,” Congress’s communication chief Jairam Ramesh posted on X on Friday.
The principal opposition party claimed that it was a breach of protocol and reminded that opposition leaders have always been invited to Rashtrapati Bhavan banquets.
In a video shared by news agency PTI on X, Tharoor said, “Don’t know on what basis invitations are issued, but I will certainly attend. It is not appropriate that the Leaders of the Opposition are not invited.”
About the Author
