Chandy invite tangle: Centre claims Kerala CM had expressed unavailability

New Delhi: Out rightly rejecting the Congress' charge that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has insulted Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy over an invite to a function, the Centre said that the PMO had no role in the issue.

Making a statement in the Parliament, Home Minister Rajnath Singh said, “It was a private invitation. PM has no role in it...Decision to invite or not invite Kerala CM to function was entirely the call of a social organisation.”

“Our government does not want any confrontation with any state government,” Singh added.

Later, Union Minister Rajiv Pratap Rudy chipped in with additional information that the Office of the Kerala CM had sent a letter to the PMO saying that Chandy will not be able to attend the event where Modi unveil the statute of former Kerala Chief Minister late R Sankar.

The event is a well-known leader of the Ezhava community had headed the Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana Yogam (SNDP) and the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee.