Kharge Not Invited To President's G20 Dinner, Rahul Hits Out At Govt

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi hit out at the Centre for not inviting Congress chief and the leader of opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge for not being invited at the G20 dinner.

Reacting to the Centre's decision of not inviting Kharge to the G20 Gala dinner, Gandhi said it shows that the Centre doesn't value the leader of 60 percent of India's population. He further said that people should think the cause on not inviting Kharge to the dinner.

"What is contrary about it? They have decided not to invite the Leader of the Opposition. It tells you something. It tells you that they don't value the Leader of 60 percent of India's population. It's something that people should think about - why they are feeling the need to do that and what is the type of thinking that goes behind that," Gandhi said.

Former Prime Ministers Manmohan Singh and HD Deve Gowda were also invited to the G20 dinner, however, they refused attending the dinner owing to their health issues.

Meanwhile, President Droupadi Murmu has hosted a special G20 dinner for all cabinet and state ministers, all Chief Ministers, all Secretaries to the Government of India, and other distinguished guests on Saturday.

Chief Ministers Nitish Kumar, Hemant Soren, Mamata Banerjee, MK Stalin, Arvind Kejriwal, and Bhagwant Mann are among those who have confirmed they will attend the dinner gala.

Muktesh Pardeshi, who is a special secretary (operations) of the G20 and is heading the operations and logistics for the summit, in conversation with NDTV asserted that the dinner is all set to take place at the multi-function hall of the Bharat Mandapam, at Delhi's Pragati Maidan followed by a short cultural programme.

New Delhi is decked up with all the arrangements as India's biggest event G20 Summit is going to take place on September 9 and 10 where global leaders are set to discuss on various issues.

Apart from President Murmu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will also host lunch for all the global leaders on Saturday.