News Brief
President's G20 Dinner Guest List Excludes Opposition Leader Mallikarjun Kharge, Raises Eyebrows
Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge.
Congress chief and leader of opposition in Rajya Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge, has not received an invitation to the G20 gala dinner hosted by President Droupadi Murmu, on Saturday (9 September), according to his office.
Despite holding a cabinet minister rank and being the president of the country's largest opposition party, Kharge has been left off the guest list.
In addition to Kharge, sources have revealed that no leaders from any other political party have been invited to the gala dinner, as reported by NDTV.
The dinner will be attended by all cabinet and state ministers, as well as all chief ministers. The guest list also includes secretaries to the government of India and other distinguished guests.
Former prime ministers Dr Manmohan Singh and H D Deve Gowda have also been extended invitations to the gala dinner.
Bihar's Nitish Kumar, Hemant Soren from Jharkhand, Mamata Banerjee from West Bengal, M K Stalin from Tamil Nadu, Arvind Kejriwal from Delhi, and Bhagwant Mann from Punjab are among the Chief Ministers who have confirmed their attendance at the dinner gala.
All the invited guests have been instructed to arrive at the Parliament House tomorrow (9 September) at 5.45pm in the evening. Special transportation arrangements have been made to take them to Bharat Mandapam and back.
The decision to arrange special transportation was made due to VVIP movement and traffic restrictions. The convoy of the invited guests will not proceed all the way to Bharat Mandapam.
The Delhi Police has organised transportation for cabinet ministers, ministers of state, chief ministers, secretaries, and other special guests to Parliament House from their residences.
The gala dinner will be held at the multi-functional hall of Bharat Mandapam, located in the revamped India Trade Promotion Organisation complex at Pragati Maidan in Delhi.
During the event, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will personally welcome each leader of the participating countries. He will also host a working lunch for them at the venue on Saturday, according to officials.
The Bharat Mandapam will host two sessions on Saturday, with Prime Minister Modi scheduled to arrive at the venue at 9am.
The upcoming event will see the participation of over 40 delegations, led by presidents, prime ministers, and, in some cases, their foreign ministers. Additionally, international organisations will be represented by their secretary generals or executive directors.
Each delegation is expected to consist of an average of 150 to 200 individuals. When taking into account security personnel, media representatives, catering staff, and others, it is estimated that nearly 10,000 people will be present at Bharat Mandapam on both Saturday and Sunday, according to G20 secretary, Muktesh Pardeshi.
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