Priyanka Chaturvedi (File photo/ANI)
NEW DELHI: Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi on Saturday criticised the Centre for not inviting Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi — the leaders of the opposition (LoP) in the Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha, respectively — to the state dinner hosted by President Droupadi Murmu in honour of Russian President Vladimir Putin.Chaturvedi, a former Congress leader, described the omission as “petty.”“The position of the President is not affiliated with any political side. It is bipartisan. So the President has to take note of all sides… No trend should be started that further pollutes democratic rules and regulations. The dignity and responsibility attached to the President’s office must be upheld. It looked very petty that only the ruling side was invited,” she told news agency ANI.Earlier, in a post on X, Chaturvedi accused the government of “hijacking” the state visit, writing: “Dear @rashtrapatibhvn, your role in democracy is bipartisan… Unfortunate to see a state banquet to welcome a foreign dignitary being hijacked by the government to keep away leaders of the opposition. This doesn’t augur well for democracy and only shows the pettiness of the ruling dispensation. Don’t become another toolkit in their hand to throttle long-held customs and traditions. ”Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh had confirmed that the two LoPs were not invited to the official dinner at Rashtrapati Bhavan.Congress leader Pawan Khera also questioned the decision to invite party colleague Shashi Tharoor while excluding senior leaders, saying he was “quite surprised” by the guest list.Gandhi also alleged that the government had not scheduled a meeting between him, in his capacity as LoP, and President Putin, attributing the move to the government’s “insecurity.”The Russian president was on a two-day visit to Delhi on Thursday and Friday — his first trip to India since December 2021 and the first since the outbreak of the Ukraine war.