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UP ministers in scramble for invitation
to banquet for Musharraf

A scramble has broken out in Uttar Pradesh's 89-member jumbo council of ministers for an invitation to the banquet hosted by Governor Vishnu Kant Shastri in honour of visiting Pakistan President Gen Pervez Musharraf on July 15.

The ministry of external affairs has told Shastri, the official host, to restrict his guest list to 25.

"The Union government was preparing another list of 100 invitees that would include the who's who of India, besides key members of the Union Cabinet," a senior protocol official revealed.

Shastri was candid enough to admit, "I am the host only for namesake. The guest list was to be finalised by the MEA."

However, the entire exercise has put Chief Minister Rajnath Singh in a spot as there is a virtual scramble for invitations among his ministers and members of the ruling coalition.

"Nearly every minister wants to be among the privileged invitees and none was willing to listen to any plea about the host's hands being tied," remarked a top official.

Rajnath Singh has been entrusted with the task of preparing the guest list on behalf of the governor. Care had to be taken to ensure that it did not leave any quarter ignored, particularly the BJP's half a dozen allies.

"The chief minister cannot afford to ignore us," quipped a cabinet minister, who heads a group of only two MLAs in the ruling coalition.

Therefore, much to the chagrin of the others, the chief minister has recommended names of only senior cabinet ministers, which includes several members from the ally groups. followed by that of state Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) president Kalraj Misra.

Prominent among the opposition leaders mentioned in the tentative list were Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Samajwadi party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav.

However, what took political observers by surprise was the exclusion of Bahujan Samaj Party leader Mayawati.

Former chief ministers like Ram Prakash Gupta and Kalyan Singh have been kept out of the list.

The chief minister told rediff.com, "we have to include a few people other than politicians, and that would mean someone from the field of culture, someone from industry and commerce, etc. etc."

Besides, protocol demands that some top ranking civil, military personnel and police officials be also included in the limited guest list .

Indo-Pak Summit 2001: The Complete Coverage

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