NEW DELHI: With just few hours ahead of the arrival of Russian President Vladimir Putin in New Delhi, Leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Thursday took a sharp dig at the Narendra Modi-led Central government of not following the “tradition” of allowing foreign dignitaries to meet the leader of opposition and added that the government has “insecurity”.
Speaking in Parliament, Rahul Gandhi, who is also the former Congress chief said, “Generally, the tradition has been that whoever visits India, the LoP used to have a meeting.”
He highlighted the last precedences under the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led NDA government and the Manmohan Singh-led UPA government and said “but now this is not the case now”.
“Whenever I visit abroad, they suggest that those people shouldn’t meet the LoP. People told us we have been informed not to meet the LoP,” he alleged.
The Rae Bareli MP said: “LoP provides a second perspective; we also represent India, but the government doesn’t want us to meet foreign dignitaries.”
“Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi and the foreign ministry do not follow this now because of insecurity,” he said.
He was also backed by his sister and party Lok Sabha MP from Kerala’s Wayanad Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on LoP concern of government not letting him meet visiting dignitaries.
Priyanka Gandhi in Parliament said, “It is very weird. There is a protocol, and all visiting dignitaries meet the LoP.”
She alleged that the protocol is being “reversed” by the government and all their policies are based on this.
“They don’t want anyone to raise their voice. They don’t want to listen to any other opinion. They should abide by the protocols of a democracy. God knows what they are scared of… In a democracy, everyone should be able to put forward their opinions, discussions must be held, and appropriate action must be taken.
“The government is insecure, and this decision is a reflection of that… What will they get by breaking and reversing this protocol? This is their insecurity… The image of democracy is tarnished in the world,” she added.
Russian President Putin arrived in Delhi on Thursday evening on a 30 hour visit to India.
Putin is visiting India for the 23rd India–Russia Annual Summit.
This is his first visit to India since the Ukraine conflict began in 2022. Putin had last visited India in December 2021.
The two-day trip is taking place at the invitation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
