New Delhi: As Narendra Modi reaches out to leaders around the world, inviting SAARC neighbours for his swearing-in ceremony, leaders at home are deleting themselves from the attendees list. Jayalalithaa is reportedly cheesed off after the to-be Prime Minister extended his invitation to Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa. Sources say the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa may give the event a miss as Rajapaksa’s presence at the swearing-in will hurt the sentiments of the Tamil people.
To make matters worse, even BJP’s ally MDMK has protested over the participation of the Sri Lankan President in the May 26 event. Party founder Vaiko claimed Congress lost the trust of Tamil people for allegedly helping Colombo in its pursuit against LTTE, “in which thousands of Tamil civilians were killedâ€. Vaiko has asked Modi and BJP President Rajnath Singh to review the decision and stop Rajapaksa from attending the ceremony.
While continuing her stand against Prime Minister-designate Modi, TMC chief Mamata Banerjee said her party will not attend the swearing-in ceremony of Narendra Modi and other NDA leader.
Mamata and Modi exchanged bitter words in the past few weeks during the Lok Sabha election campaign. And Mamata’s fury has shown no end even with Modi getting the top seat. She remains in no mood to bury the hatchet and instead joins leaders in abandoning a ceremony which will be watched the world over with the right-wing party coming into power after 10 years.