In a surprising development, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad have decided not to attend the dinner invitation extended by President Ram Nath Kovind in honour of visiting United States President Donald Trump. The dinner is scheduled to take place on Tuesday at 8 pm on Rashtrapati Bhavan.
It is to be noted that Singh had earlier accepted the invite but on Monday he informed the government about his decision to skip the event. Congress sources said that Singh has conveyed his regret to the President's office.
Singh and Azad's decision to skip the event comes just two days after the Congress leader in Lok Sabha, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, said that he would skip the dinner called in honour of US President Trump as the government has not invited Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi for the same.
"Trump is coming here. India will host a grand dinner for him but the opposition is not invited. Why Sonia Gandhi Ji is not invited for the dinner with Trump? In `Howdy Modi` event, both the Republicans and the Democrats shared the stage but here only Modi will be with Trump. What kind of democracy is this," Chowdhury had said.
Sources close to Azad, who is also the leader of opposition in Rajya Sabha, said since President's Office has not extended invitation to Sonia Gandhi, it would not be appropriate for him to attend the dinner at Rashtrapati Bhavan.
President Trump and US First Lady Melania Trump arrived in India on Monday on a two-day visit. After landing at Ahmedabad's airport, President Trump and US First Lady went to Sabarmati Ashram to pay homage to Mahatma Gandhi. After spending some moments at Sabarmati Ashram, President Trump went to Motera Stadium in Ahmedabad to attend the 'Namaste Trump' event hosted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his honour.
After remaining in Ahmedabad for around 3 hours, President Trump and First Lady Ivanka flew to Agra to watch the iconic Taj Mahal. The US President spent around an hour at Taj Mahal and then arrived in Delhi.
