Kharge once again declines to attend Lokpal Selection Committee meetings

New Delhi, Sep 19: Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge once again declined invitation over meeting of Lokpal Selection Committee to be held on 19 September.

Kharge writes, 'Once again forced to respectfully decline invitation until Leader of single largest opposition party is conferred status of full-fledged member to reflect spirit of Lokpal Act, 2013'.

On the day the Lokpal Selection Committee was due to meet, Leader of Congress in Lok Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge, said he will boycott the meetings until he is conferred the status of a full-fledged member as per the Lokpal Act.

In his letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in July, Kharge had expressed his displeasure at being invited to the panel meetings as a "special invitee". It is disappointing that previous letters raising the issue had gone unnoticed, he said.

"The government insists on continuing to invite me as a special invitee to the selection committee meeting despite being aware of the fact that there is no such provision under section 4 of the Lokpal Act," he said.