Pawan Khera, Congress’s media and publicity department head, accused the government of breaking protocols daily and not believing in democratic principles.
New Delhi: Leaders of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi have not been invited to the banquet for Russian President Vladimir Putin, said Congress on Friday, 05 December 2025. The party took a jibe at its own MP Shashi Tharoor for accepting the invite.
‘Two LoPs have not been invited’
“There has been speculation whether the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha and the Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha have been invited for tonight’s official dinner in honour of President Putin. The two LoPs have not been invited,” said Congress general secretary in-charge communications, Jairam Ramesh.
Government breaks protocols daily: Khera
Pawan Khera, Congress’s media and publicity department head, accused the government of breaking protocols daily and not believing in democratic principles. “There is no invite to both the LoPs, Mr (Mallikarjun) Kharge and Mr (Rahul) Gandhi. This comes as a surprise, but I don’t think we should be surprised. This government is known to be breaching all protocols. What else to say, ask the government,” he told PTI Videos on the sidelines of an event.
On Shashi Tharoor
Asked about party MP Tharoor getting invited to the banquet and accepting the invitation, Khera said, “Ask Mr. Tharoor. All of us who are in the party, if our leaders don’t get invited and we get invited, we need to question our own conscience and listen to our conscience. Politics has been played in inviting or not inviting people, which in itself is questionable, and those who accept such an invite are also questionable,” Khera said.
“We would have listened to our voice of conscience,” he added.
What did Tharoor say
Earlier, Tharoor said there was a time when the chairman of the external affairs committee was routinely invited, but that practice seems to have stopped from some years. “It has been resumed. I have been invited, yes. I will definitely go,” he said.
On the question of LoPs, Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi not getting an invite, Tharoor said, “I don’t know on what basis invitations were sent. I think the custom that usually used to be followed was for a wide representation. Certainly, I remember in the olden days, they used to invite not only the LoPs, (but) various other cross section of representatives of different parties. It conveys a good impression.”
“I dont know the basis (of invitation), this is all done by the government, by the protocol by the Rashtrapati Bhawan, what do I know. All I can say I have honoured to have been invited. Of course I will go,” Tharoor told reporters in the Parliament House complex.
Gandhi on Thursday had alleged that the government tells visiting foreign dignitaries not to meet the Leader of the Opposition due to its “insecurity”.
(With PTI inputs)
