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The Congress on Friday said its top parliamentary leaders, Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge and Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, have not been invited to the official banquet in honour of Russian President Vladimir Putin. The party also took a sharp swipe at its own MP Shashi Tharoor for choosing to attend the function despite the alleged snub.

Congress general secretary in charge of communications, Jairam Ramesh, said there was widespread speculation over whether the two LoPs had received invitations for Friday night’s official dinner. “The two LoPs have not been invited,” he said, confirming the party’s position.

Congress Alleges Daily ‘Protocol Breaches’

Congress’ media and publicity department head, Pawan Khera, accused the government of repeatedly violating established protocol and undermining democratic conventions. “There is no invite to both the LoPs, Mr Kharge and Mr Gandhi. This comes as a surprise, but I don’t think we should be surprised. This government is known to be breaching all protocols,” Khera told PTI Videos on the sidelines of an event.

When asked about Tharoor receiving and accepting the invite, Khera said the decision raised questions of conscience. “Ask Mr Tharoor. If our leaders don’t get invited and we get invited, we need to question our own conscience. Politics has been played in inviting or not inviting people, which in itself is questionable, and those who accept such an invite are also questionable,” he said, adding, “We would have listened to our voice of conscience.”

Tharoor Says Invitation for Panel Chair Has Been ‘Resumed’

Earlier in the day, Tharoor, who is chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs, said he had been invited and would attend the banquet. “There was a time when the chairman of the external affairs committee was routinely invited, but that practice seems to have stopped from some years. It has been resumed. I have been invited, yes. I will definitely go,” he said.

On reports that the LoPs were not invited, Tharoor said he was unaware of the basis on which invitations were issued. “I don’t know on what basis invitations were sent. The custom that was usually followed was for wide representation. In the olden days, they used to invite not only the LoPs but a cross-section of representatives of different parties. It conveys a good impression,” he told reporters in the Parliament House complex.

He said the process was handled by the government and Rashtrapati Bhavan’s protocol machinery. “What do I know? All I can say is I am honoured to have been invited. Of course, I will go,” Tharoor added.

The controversy comes against the backdrop of Rahul Gandhi’s remarks on Thursday, hours ahead of Putin’s two-day visit to India. Gandhi alleged that the government discourages visiting foreign dignitaries from meeting the Leader of the Opposition due to what he described as its “insecurity”.

“It is a tradition that visiting foreign dignitaries meet the LoP. This used to happen during Atal Bihari Vajpayee ji’s time and Manmohan Singh ji’s time,” Gandhi said in Parliament. “What happens these days is that when foreign dignitaries come, the government suggests to them not to meet the LoP,” he alleged.