Cong puts family interest above national interest: Prasad

With US President Donald Trump's visit to India over, the BJP on Wednesday accused the Congress of putting "family interest above national interest", attacking the party for declining to attend a banquet given in his honour at the Rashtrapati Bhavan because its president Sonia Gandhi was not extended an invitation.

Senior BJP leader and Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said his party presidents were also not invited for similar banquets to honour US president George Bush and Barrack Obama when they had visited India when the Congress-led UPA was in power.

The BJP had not boycotted the events then, he said, noting that Rajnath Singh and Nitin Gadkari were the party president in 2006 and 2010 respectively during the visits of US presidents.

Prasad noted that Ghulam Nabi Azad and Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, Congress leader in Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha respectively, besides former prime minister Manmohan Singh were invited for the banquet given in Trump's honour.

The Congress leaders skipped the dinner to protest a similar invitation not being extended to Sonia Gandhi.

"Trump's historic visit is over. The Indo-US relations are on a new high. Even here the Congress is doing its petty politics. This has become the party's practice that the family interest comes above the national interest," Prasad said.

The BJP leader said the Congress had also created a row over its then president Rahul Gandhi not being given a front row seat during the Republic Day parade.

The opposition party, he said, had also sought evidence of the Balakot air strike, whose first anniversary fell on Wednesday.