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In an unexpected turn of events during Vladimir Putin’s visit to India, Shashi Tharoor has been extended an invitation to the high-profile State dinner at the presidential residence — while Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge, the Leaders of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha respectively, were conspicuously left out.
Sources within the party confirmed that Tharoor accepted the invite and will attend the banquet, scheduled Friday night at Rashtrapati Bhavan.
The decision to exclude the two top opposition figures has triggered strong reactions within Indian National Congress (INC). Party spokesperson Pawan Khera questioned the rationale behind the guest-list. He remarked that those who issued the invitation “raise questions,” and those who accepted are “open to scrutiny.”
From Tharoor’s side, he defended his attendance by pointing out that as the chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs, he had previously been routinely invited to such events. He claimed the custom had lapsed for some years but now seems to have been resumed. “I don’t know on what basis invitations were sent,” he told reporters, adding that he was “honoured to have been invited.”
The controversy comes at a sensitive time: just a day earlier, Rahul Gandhi had accused the government of breaking tradition by allegedly discouraging visiting dignitaries from meeting the Leader of the Opposition — a charge now underscored by the absence of any invite to him or Kharge.
As the state dinner approaches, the invite list and reactions continue to stir debate on protocol, party discipline, and the optics of diplomatic events involving opposition representation.
