President Ram Nath Kovind has had a diverse bunch of visitors in his first month in office — from beekeepers to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Ministers of 11 States, including West Bengal and Delhi.
Notable absentees have been Congress leaders, though party president Sonia Gandhi attended the “At Home” hosted by the President on Independence Day.
Of the Chief Ministers of the Congress-ruled States, only Virbhadra Singh of Himachal Pradesh and V. Narayanasamy of Puducherry paid a courtesy call. Though Congress leaders have not been to the Rashtrapati Bhavan, those of other Opposition parties, especially West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and her Delhi counterpart, Arvind Kejriwal, both of whom had supported Meira Kumar as their choice for Rashtrapati Bhavan, had come calling.
Mr. Kejriwal and his deputy, Manish Sisodia, were, in fact, one of the earliest guests, meeting Mr. Kovind on July 28, barely three days after his swearing-in. Ms. Banerjee called on the President on August 10, advancing her Delhi trip by a day of the appointment, Trinamool Congress sources said.
“Mamata di was to be in Delhi on Friday, August 11, for a joint meeting of major Opposition parties in Delhi. She brought forward her visit to Delhi by a day to call on President Kovind before the meeting, to keep a distance between the political aim of her visit and the courtesy call, between the tough political rhetoric and the bipartisanship of Rashtrapati Bhavan,” a senior party MP said.
Early callers
Senior leaders of the Nationalist Congress Party, the Telangana Rashtra Samithi and the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam were early callers, as were the former Prime Ministers, H.D. Deve Gowda and Manmohan Singh.
Ms. Gandhi’s omission from the list of callers is only bolstered by the absence of calls from other senior party MPs and leaders. In a protocol-driven place like Delhi, each ceremonial photo-op tells its own story.
