Will not attend banquet for Trump as Sonia not invited, says Chowdhury

Murshidabad (West Bengal) [India], Feb 22 (ANI): Leader of Congress in Lok Sabha, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on Saturday said that he will not attend the banquet hosted by Rashtrapati Bhavan in honour of US President Donald Trump as party chief Sonia Gandhi has not been invited for the event.
"Trump is coming here. India will host a grand dinner for him but the Opposition is not invited. Why Sonia Gandhi ji is not invited for dinner with Trump. In Howdy Modi event, both Republican and democrats shared the stage but here only Modi will be with Trump. What kind of democracy is this?" said Chowdhury while speaking to ANI.
"Trump is coming to India and it is a very big thing. The US is a powerful nation and we welcome their President in our country. The country which he represents is considered as the oldest democracy and India as the biggest democracy. Democracy has some features which everyone should respect," he said.
He also questioned the government over the need of "spending crores of rupees for welcoming US President".
"What is the need to spend crore of rupees from the government's treasury. People living in slums are being forced to hide or shift in order to make Trump happy. Is this the right behaviour?. Gujarat was developed by Modi as a model for others but poor are being exploited there. We will protest against Modi governmnet," he said.
President Trump and US First Lady Melania Trump will be visiting India on February 24 and 25.
The Presidential banquet is scheduled to take place on February 25, the final day of Trump's maiden trip to India.
On his first day, he will visit Prime Minister Narendra Modi's home state Gujarat and take part in a roadshow with Prime Minister. He will also address the "Namaste Trump" event in Ahmedabad (ANI)