Leader of the Opposition (LoP) Mallikarjun Kharge on Saturday wrote to Rajya Sabha General Secretary Pramod Chandra Mody informing him that he will not be attending the flag hoisting event at the New Parliament building on Sunday as he is engaged with Congress Workers' Meeting (CWC) in Telangana's Hyderabad. He cited a delay in the invitation sent to him as the cause behind his decision to skip the event, "I am writing this letter with a sense of disappointment that I have received your invite for flag hoisting function tomorrow at New Parliament Building only on 15 September 2023 quite late in the evening."
"This is to inform you that meetings of the newly constituted Congress Working Committee have been scheduled for today and tomorrow i.e. 16 and 17 September 2023, respectively at Hyderabad. Since the programmes had been fixed much in advance, I am presently in Hyderabad to hold the meetings. As I will return to Delhi late night on 17 September 2023, it will not feasible for me to attend the function scheduled for tomorrow morning", Mallikarjun Kharge stated in his letter, as shared by news agency ANI.
Vice President and Rajya Sabha Chairperson Jagdeep Dhankhar will hoist the national flag at the new Parliament building on Sunday, news agency PTI reported. The flag hoisting ceremony will take place the day before the five-day Parliament session which is slated to begin on Monday and may see parliamentary proceedings move from the old to the adjacent new building.
ANI cited sources as stating that the Congress party expressed resentment as the Union government sent the invitation to Kharge only on Friday at noon while the flag hoisting ceremony is scheduled on Sunday, the day of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's birthday.
ANI's report mentioned sources as also indicating that the grand old party accused the government of deliberately inviting the Congress president at the last moment, since it knew about of the pre-scheduled meeting of the Congress Working Committee in Hyderabad on September 16-17.
Previously, the Congress criticised the Modi government for not inviting LoP Kharge to the G20 dinner hosted by President Droupadi Murmu on September 9.
Notably, the Congress along with other opposition parties slammed the Centre for not inviting President Murmu to the inauguration of the new Parliament building and boycotted the ceremony. On the inaugural day, Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Harivansh read the President's message in the new Parliament House.
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