Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge said it was not good politics and that the Centre should not indulge in such low-level politics after the Leader of the Opposition was not invited to the G20 Summit dinner. Speaking to reporters in Karnataka’s Kalaburagi on Saturday, Kharge said his party has already reacted to the issue and said, "I have already reacted to it. Our party has reacted to this. It is not good politics, and they (Centre) should not do such low-level politics."
Many congress leaders have reacted to Kharge not being invited to the dinner. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who was addressing the international media at Brussels Press Club in Belgium, during this week-long tour to Europe to connect with the Indian diaspora there, also commented on the matter on Friday.
Responding to a question about Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge not being invited to the G20 Summit dinner by the President in Delhi, the Congress MP said that the Centre doesn't value the leader of 60 per cent of the country's population.
He was quoted as saying news agency PTI: "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 per cent 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.”
Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram also spoke on the matter on Saturday. Strongly hitting out at the Centre, he said this can happen only in countries where there is no democracy or no opposition.
Chidambaram said, "I cannot imagine any other democratic country's government not inviting the recognised Leader of the Opposition to a state dinner for world leaders. This can happen only in countries where there is no Democracy or no Opposition."
"I hope India, that is Bharat, has not reached a stage where Democracy and the Opposition will cease to exist,” he added.