New Delhi: The Congress Friday questioned its MP Shashi Tharoor’s acceptance of an invitation to the state banquet organised for Russian President Vladimir Putin, at the same time as Leaders of the Opposition in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge, weren’t prolonged the identical courtesy.

Tharoor, who has been at odds with the Congress excessive command over numerous points in latest months, advised reporters that he assumed he obtained the invite as a result of he serves because the chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Exterior Affairs and that he would undoubtedly attend.

“There was hypothesis whether or not the Chief of the Opposition within the Lok Sabha and the Chief of the Opposition within the Rajya Sabha have been invited for tonight’s official dinner in honour of President Putin. The 2 LoPs haven’t been invited,” Congress basic secretary (communications) Jairam Ramesh wrote on X.

Tharoor, nevertheless, stated that whereas it had as soon as been established follow to ask chairpersons of the exterior affairs committee to such occasions hosted for visiting overseas dignitaries, the follow had been discontinued in recent times.

“It has been resumed. I’ve been invited, sure. I’ll undoubtedly go,” he stated.

The Thiruvananthapuram MP had earlier stated that the federal government ought to reply to Rahul’s allegation, made Thursday, that visiting dignitaries have been being discouraged from assembly the Leaders of Opposition. Rahul had claimed that the federal government was appearing out of insecurity.

On Friday, Tharoor stated he was not conscious of the factors the federal government utilized in issuing invites.

“I don’t know the idea of the invitation. That is all finished by the federal government, by protocol, by Rashtrapati Bhavan. What do I do know? All I can say is that I’m honoured to have been invited,” he stated, in an extra signal of the widening rift between him and the Congress.

Responding to questions on Tharoor’s resolution, Congress chief Pawan Khera steered that the Centre was enjoying a recreation by inviting Tharoor as an alternative of Rahul and Kharge. He added that Tharoor mustn’t have been a part of it.

“Ask Mr Tharoor. All of us who’re within the social gathering, if our leaders don’t get invited and we get invited, we have to query our personal conscience and hearken to our conscience. Politics has been performed in inviting or not inviting individuals, which in itself is questionable, and those that settle for such an invitation are additionally questionable. We’d have listened to our voice of conscience,” he stated.

(Edited by Gitanjali Das)

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