Pranab Mukherjee, Arvind Kejriwal not invited for Rahul Gandhi's Iftar party

Congress president Rahul Gandhi is set to host an Iftar party in the national capital on June 13. While the guest list is expected to be a high-profile one, some prominent faces may be missing from the scene. According to sources, no invitation has been given for the Iftar party to former President Pranab Mukherjee and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

Sources told Zee News that former Vice President Hamid Ansari has also not been invited for Rahul Gandhi’s Iftar party, which will be organised at Taj Palace hotel in the national capital. The Congress party is organising an Iftar party after a gap of almost two years.

Notably, the report of Pranab Mukherjee not being invited for the party comes just days after the former President attended an event of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) in Nagpur. The acceptance of RSS invitation by the former President had invited sharp criticism from several corners, including senior leaders of the Congress party.

Just ahead of the event in Nagpur, senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel had tweeted that he “did not expect this from Pranab Da”. Mukherjee’s daughter Sharmistha Mukherjee had also taken to microblogging site Twitter, warning her father of the consequences of him attending the RSS event. She had said that words would be forgotten while pictures would remain, alleging that the BJP and the RSS might use the pictures of the event in future for political gains.

However, Mukherjee’s speech at the Nagpur event was later much appreciated, with the Congress party saying that he had shown the “mirror of truth” to the RSS.

Addressing a press conference after the event, Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala had said, “Pranab Mukherjee has shown the mirror of truth to the RSS by reminding them of India’s pluralism, tolerance, secularism and inclusiveness as an article of faith and soul of the country. He particularly highlighted the imperative need of freeing the public discourse from all forms of violence - physical and verbal, besides putting compassion, harmony and non-violence as the centre stage of our public life.”