NEW DELHI: After it emerged that Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge has not been invited to the G20 dinner hosted by President Droupadi Murmu on Saturday, chief ministers belonging to the Opposition-ruled states — Mamata Banerjee, Arvind Kejriwal, Nitish Kumar, and MK Stalin, confirmed their presence. Kharge is the leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha and enjoys the cabinet minister rank.
The Kharge episode came after the President described her position as ‘President of Bharat’ that led to an INDIA-versus-Bharat row. Congress MP Rahul Gandhi said at a presser in Brussels that the government “does not value the leader of 60% of India’s population.” All Cabinet and state ministers and all CMs, including opposition-ruled states, have been invited to the event, which will be attended by several world leaders and other dignitaries.
However, several Opposition chief ministers have expressed their inability to attend the dinner citing pre-scheduled engagements. Except for Himachal Pradesh CM Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, other CMs from Congress-ruled states are unlikely to attend. Sources told this newspaper that Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan will not attend the dinner on account of pre-scheduled programmes. Vijayan will be travelling to Delhi on September 15th for party engagements, his office said.
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The CMs of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and Odisha CM are also unlikely to attend the dinner. While sources in Telangana CM K Chandrasekhar Rao’s office confirmed that he would not attend the dinner, Andhra Pradesh CM Jagan Mohan Reddy is on a foreign tour. Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah’s office said he would not attend the dinner. It is unlikely that Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot and Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik will attend.
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