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Mixed attendance of Opposition CMs at G20 dinner
Although many chief ministers of the opposition INDIA bloc attended the G20 dinner hosted by President Droupadi Murmu in New Delhi, a number of others, including three from states ruled by the Congress, stayed away.
Although many chief ministers of the opposition INDIA bloc attended the G20 dinner hosted by President Droupadi Murmu in New Delhi, a number of others, including three from states ruled by the Congress, stayed away.
Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar, his Jharkhand counterpart Hemant Soren, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee and Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin attended the dinner and shared candid moments with global leaders.
“Attended the #G20Dinner at Kaveri Table hosted by Hon’ble President of India @rashtrapatibhvn,” Stalin posted on X (formerly Twitter), sharing a photo of his interaction with US President Joe Biden.
Kumar and Soren interacted with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Biden, setting aside domestic political rivalry and joining the celebration of the first G20 summit in India.
“If Congress chief ministers such as Ashok Gehlot (Rajasthan), Bhupesh Baghel (Chhattisgarh) and Siddaramaiah (Karnataka) and Kerala chief minister Pinarai Vijayan boycott the event, it is their problem,” an aide of Banerjee said, declining to be named. “We can’t toe the Congress’ line on all issues. There is no scope of politics in the G20 dinner hosted by the President of India.”
Most of the chief ministers who attended the vegetarian dinner at Bharat Mandapam had arrived in the national capital by Friday to avoid any last moment flight interruptions. “I have come here to attend the G20 dinner on the invitation of President Droupadi Murmu,” Kumar said upon his arrival.
It was not proper on the part of “the leaders to avoid the G20 dinner. The invitation came from the President and this is a government programme”, another non-Congress leader said, seeking anonymity.
Himachal Pradesh chief minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu was the lone Congress representative in the dinner. Modi, who interacted with many chief ministers, was seen hugging Sukhu.
Another opposition chief minister, K Chandrashekar Rao of Telangana, didn’t attend for the event. Gehlot and Baghel had claimed they didn’t get permission to land their aircraft at Delhi airport. Government officials rejected the claims.
The Congress high command didn’t advise anyone to skip the dinner but “left the decision to the chief ministers”, a Congress leader said, wishing to remain unnamed.
