New Delhi: After the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) grand celebrations for Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, it's the Congress' turn to show its political might. Utilising the 125th birth anniversary celebrations of Jawaharlal Nehru, the Congress is organising a big international conference on the former prime minister's legacy in the national capital on Monday.
Barring the NDA parties, all regional players have been invited for the conference. The two-day international conference will be attended by a host of international leaders and representatives of various political parties from India and abroad.
The parties, whose leaders have been invited include all Left parties, JD(U), RJD, JD(S), Samajwadi Party, Trinamool Congress and other "who believe in the idea of India" as espoused by Nehru, as a Congress leader put it.
While leaders from 52 countries have been invited to participate in the conference, Prime Minister Narendra Modi or any other leader from BJP or from its allies have been left out. BJP has been alleging that the decision not to invite the Prime Minister reflected the narrow-mindedness of Congress and is a disrespect to the nation.
The world leaders who have arrived included former President of Afghanistan Hamid Karzai, former president of Ghana John Kufour, former President of Nigeria Obasanzo, former Prime Minister of Nepal Sher Bahadur Deuba, Queen Mother of Bhutan Majesty Dorji Wangmo Wangchuck, human rights activist from Pakistan Asma Jehangir, according to a release.
"We are expecting former Prime Minister of Nepal Madhav K Nepal, Cabinet Minister and Chief Negotiator of Palestine Nabil Shaath, former Secretary General of Arab League Amre Musa and other dignitaries by late evening," it said. Leadership delegations from 12 political parties have also arrived.
Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi will be leading the Congress delegation in the conference. Party President Sonia Gandhi and former PM Manmohan Singh will make the opening and closing remarks respectively.
Party sources said that the Congress chief had personally written to Mamata and Nitish Kumar also inviting them for the event. Congress has been launching a sharp attack on Modi for the past few days accusing him of seeking to destroy Nehru's secular vision. The party has earlier also been accusing the Prime Minister of appropriating the legacy of freedom movement leaders like Mahatma Gandhi and Sardar Patel.
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