Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad on Monday declined the invitation by President Ram Nath Kovind to attend the dinner at Rashtrapati Bhavan in honour of visiting US President Donald Trump.
As per the sources, Azad said, “since no invitation has been extended to Chairman of the Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP) Sonia Gandhi, so it would not be appropriate for him to attend the function.”
The reception programme which will be held at Rashtrapati Bhavan on February 25, will be witnessed by the floor leaders of both the House of Parliament.
Earlier, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury had also declined the invitation to attend the Presidential banquet. He said since the party president Sonia Gandhi has not been invited, he will also not attend the event.
As per the schedule of the US President, there is no mention of him meeting with any opposition leaders.
Earlier, Congress had said it has not received any invitations yet for its leaders to meet US President for his upcoming visit.
“If any invitation comes, we will take a view on it,” Congress spokesperson Anand Sharma had said.