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Congress leader and Lok Sabha MP Shashi Tharoor on Sunday turned down the invitation from the Communist Party of India (Marxist) to attend a seminar of CPI(M), on the orders of AICC president Sonia Gandhi.
According to sources, CPI(M) has invited Tharoor and K.V. Thomas to attend a seminar on Centre-State relations during a party event being organised in Kerala's Kannur from April 6 till April 10. Declining the invitation, Tharoor in his official statement said, "I have discussed with AICC President (Sonia Gandhi) the matter of my participation in the seminar on centre-state relations on the sidelines of the CPI(M) National Party Congress." "I respect her views in this matter and have conveyed to the organizers my inability to participate," he added. Tharoor also quoted the reasons for welcoming the invitation in the first place. "No difference of opinion on the issue of 'centre-state' relation between the two parties and intellectual exchange on policy issue among anti-BJP parties," are some of the reasons Congress leader quoted in his official statement. However, he also pointed out that issues related to engaging invitations of other political parties and Congress relation with CPI (M) at the national level should be addressed separately. Meanwhile, Karnataka Congres Party President has said that central leadership has given clear instructions to all its leaders against participating in the seminars against the sentiments of Congress party workers. (ANI)
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