In a move to bring down the political temperatures over the booing of non-BJP chief ministers at functions attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the PM on Friday invited Haryana CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda for tea.
Hooda was the first chief minister to have been heckled at a function in Kaithal in Modi’s presence, following which the Congress had given a call to all its CMs to boycott the Prime Minister’s functions.
Maharashtra chief minister Prithviraj Chavan had subsequently stayed away from a function in Nagpur on Thursday where the Prime Minister was present — the same day when Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren was heckled in Ranchi in a function attended by Modi.
After his meeting with Modi, Hooda later told HT, “The Prime Minister had called me over tea. We had general discussions.”
When asked if there was any reference to the hooting incident, he replied in negative, saying, “On that day itself we had discussed about it on the dais and told him clearly that it (hooting) was not proper.”
The Haryana CM said that he had met the PM who had invited him over tea but there were no discussions about Kaithal incident. It was “a general discussion”, he said adding that those who had booed him were all ticket-seekers of the BJP.
{{/usCountry}}The Haryana CM said that he had met the PM who had invited him over tea but there were no discussions about Kaithal incident. It was “a general discussion”, he said adding that those who had booed him were all ticket-seekers of the BJP.
{{/usCountry}}Asked if he would, in future, attend Modi’s function in Haryana, Hooda said, “It depends on their (the BJP’s) attitude.
I have utmost respect for the institution of the Prime Minister and I will follow protocol. But everything depends on their attitude.” An angry Hooda had earlier vowed never to share stage with PM after he was made the target of the hooting.