Congress livid over Chandy's exclusion from PM Modi's function

The Congress party on Tuesday slammed the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) for not inviting Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy for a function in Kollam, in which Prime Minister Narendra Modi will unveil a statue of former Chief Minister R Shankar.

Congress leader Pramod Tiwari said that excluding a Chief Minister from such a function is an insult to the entire state.

"They first invited Kerala's Chief Minister and then they said that there was some kind of pressure on them, because of which they could not invite. Our Chief Minister said that it will send a wrong message. If a Chief Minister is not invited because of PMO, then it is an insult not only of the Chief Minister but of the entire state," Tiwari told ANI.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Government had earlier drawn flak from Congress after Kerala Chief Minister Chandy was asked to keep off the SNDP event.

The Kerala Chief Minister had, however, said that he would give a 'ceremonial welcome' to the Prime Minister to uphold democratic values.

Meanwhile, the government yesterday clarified that Prime Minister's Office has no role in excluding Chandy's name.

Replying to a point raised by Congress leader K C Venugopal, Home Minister Rajnath Singh said centre does not want any confrontation with any state.

Rajnath said the Congress leader's allegation is completely baseless and without any facts. The Home minister said the socio cultural organisation Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana (SNDP) has unanimously passed a resolution not to invite the chief minister.