BJP leaders 'ill-treated' at function, apology tendered

New Delhi, Aug 16: Senior

leaders

, Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley were allegedly denied seats in a special enclosure in the Mughal Gardens and were made to stand in a queue while UPA leaders

and others chatted with President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during an 'at home' function of the President organised on the Independence Day.

This is the second consecutive time that the 85-year-old Advani was allegedly ill-treated at the Rashtrapati Bhavan. At the swearing-in ceremony of Vice-President Hamid Ansari held a few days ago, Advani was given a seat in the fourth row. BJP insiders believe such ill-treatment started since Advani termed the UPA II government an illegitimate one in the Parliament last week. The ruling alliance vehemently protested against Advani's remarks.

The BJP said it would not tolerate such discourtesy. Later, however, an apology was tendered for the 'discourtesy' and President Pranab Mukherjee said the incident was a totally unintentional one.

OneIndia News