New Delhi: While the Congress has invited a galaxy of world leaders for a commemorative international conference it is organising to mark the 125th birth anniversary of Jawaharlal Nehru, one name is missing from the list – Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Addressing a press conference at Congress HQ, Tuesday, party spokesperson Anand Sharma confirmed that PM Modi has not been invited to the event.
The two-day international conference will be held from Nov 17 at Vigyan Bhavan in New Delhi.
Sharma said that 54 world leaders have been invited for the conference. While names of those who accepted the invitation are yet to be revealed, reports said many world leaders have committed to participate in the event.
The Congress will kick-off the year-long celebrations on November 14, Nehru’s birthday, with a function in Delhi's Talkatora Stadium where party president Sonia Gandhi will administer a pledge to party workers to uphold and reaffirm the Nehruvian vision.
Interestingly, the Government of India under Prime Minister Modi has also planned events to mark Nehru's birth anniversary.
The Ministry of Culture has allocated Rs 20 crore for various projects for the purpose.
While the original plan for the commemorative event was charted out by the UPA government under former PM Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister Modi had later reconstituted the committee.
No member of the Nehru-Gandhi family had found a place in the committee headed by PM Modi.
