Former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday claimed the Centre has not extended him an invite to attend the Republic Day celebrations, triggering sharp reaction from his party and the Congress.
The Aam Aadmi Party slammed the Centre for "not extending" invitation to the former Delhi chief minister while Congress said it showed "petty mindset" of the BJP dispensation.
"I haven't got any invitation. If protocol says it should be sent, then they should have sent it to me. If not, then they shouldn't. There shouldn't be any politics over it," Kejriwal told reporters.
When asked about the issue, Union minister and senior Delhi BJP leader Harsh Vardhan said he was not aware of it but added Centre was not going to flout any rules.
"I don't think anybody in our government is going to flout these rules and regulations," he said but added that Kejriwal had threatened to hold protest during the Republic Day celebrations last year.
Vardhan referred to Kejriwal's reported comments about the Republic Day celebrations last year during his protest at the Rajpath.
"I just want to make the entire nation aware of the fact that Arvind Kejriwal as the CM of Delhi was protesting on the same Rajpath last year and was asking people not to let the Republic Day celebrations take place and had proudly proclaimed himself to be an anarchist," Vardhan said.
Kejriwal said he never made any remark that Republic Day should not be celebrated as being attributed to him by BJP.
"I never said we should not celebrate it (Republic Day)," he said.
AAP leader Ashutosh said Kejriwal was chief minister of Delhi and he should have been invited to the celebrations. "He is not only the former CM but also the most popular leader of Delhi, a respected person and when he doesn't get invitation, then there are doubts in peoples mind whether he was not invited due to political hatred," he said.
"It's not an issue of protocol. There may not be any such protocol but the issue is of basic political courtesy. He did not get invited to the Independence Day celebrations as well.
So we can see a clear pattern of political vindictiveness emerging," AAP spokesperson Sanjay Singh told reporters.
A government official said as per order of precedence, the former chief ministers are not included in the protocol list.
In its reaction, Congress said respecting traditions and time honoured practises was the responsibility of the government.
"Whether we belong to different parties or different political thought process, a national day like 26th January belongs to each one of the 125 crore Indians. So to not invite a former CM of Delhi is reflective of the petty mindset of the BJP govt," said Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala.
Attacking Kejriwal, Delhi BJP president Satish Upadhyay asked whether an "anarchist like him, who "threatened" to disturb the R-Day function last year, should be present on such an occasion.
"I think he (Kejriwal) should not attend such functions.... The man who did not even respect an occasion like Republic Day last year and threatened to sit on a dharna and disrupt the function, should he be present there in the first place," he told reporters.
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