Cong leaders boycott PM's dinner for African leaders

New Delhi: Congress leaders including Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh tonight stayed away from the dinner hosted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for African leaders, apparently sending a message that it was outraged over the insult to the legacy of Jawaharlal Nehru.

Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad, Leader of the Congress in the Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge and Deputy leader of the party in the Upper House Anand Sharma were among others invited for the dinner.

Such conference of African leaders was the idea floated by the Congress-led UPA way back in 2006, but the Prime Minister is projecting it as his original idea. Let the Prime Minister blow his own trumpet, we have chosen not to be part of the audience, the leader remarked.

When asked if the Congress has boycotted the dinner hosted by Modi, spokesperson in the External Affairs Ministry said it has no information about this.

PTI