Union ministers skip Pranab Mukherjee's last Iftar as Prez
No minister from the Union Cabinet attended President Pranab Mukherjee's last Iftar party as Indian President on Friday. Although Narendra Modi has not attended the Iftar party since he became Prime Minister, Rajnath Singh and Arun Jaitley have previously attended the annual event. However, Sonia Gandhi and Ghulam Nabi Azad attended the party held at Rashtrapati Bhavan.
The Central government went unrepresented at outgoing President Pranab Mukherjee's iftar party that was held on Friday evening. No minister from the Narendra Modi cabinet attended the event - while Modi has stayed away from the presidential iftar party ever since he became prime minister, ministers like Rajnath Singh and Arun Jaitley have previously been present at the yearly get-together. On Friday, however, no one from the Union Cabinet was present at Rashtrapati Bhavan. Opposition leaders, including Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha, Ghulam Nabi Azad were present at the event. Sources told India Today that Minority Affairs Minister Mukhtar Naqvi could not attend the iftar party because of a hurriedly called meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs.Notably, PM Modi left for a three-nation tour today. The trip includes a two-day visit to the United States where Modi will meet with President Donald Trump. This was President Pranab Mukherjee's last iftar party before he demits office later this month.Also Read:Nitish hosts Iftar party, Lalu Yadav and sons in attendance