Congress leaders including Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh tonight stayed away from the dinner hosted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for African leaders, apparently sending a message that it was outraged over the "insult" to the legacy of Jawaharlal Nehru.
"What purpose it would have served as the Modi government has insulted the author (Nehru) of India-Africa relationship," a senior party leader, who declined to be identified, said giving reasons for the party not attending the dinner.
Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad, Leader of the Congress in the Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge and Deputy leader of the party in the Upper House Anand Sharma were among others invited for the dinner.
Noting that calling such conference of African leaders was the idea floated by the Congress-led UPA way back in 2006, the leader said but the Prime Minister is projecting it as his "original idea".
"Let the Prime Minister blow his own trumpet, we have chosen not to be part of the audience," the leader remarked.
When asked if the Congress has boycotted the dinner hosted by Modi, spokesperson in the External Affairs Ministry said it has no information about this.
