Chief ministers of Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Telangana did not attend the dinner, citing prior engagements or other commitments.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi were not invited to either the BRICS summit or the dinner.
The BRICS summit concluded with the adoption of the Delhi Declaration despite differences among member countries over major geopolitical issues.
BRICS Summit Dinner Snub? Opposition CMs Skip PM Modi’s Invite. Here’s Why
Four chief ministers from Opposition-ruled states stayed away from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s gala dinner for BRICS leaders. Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu also missed the dinner, but his minister attended it
Summary
Four chief ministers from Opposition-ruled states stayed away from the Gala dinner hosted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the 18th BRICS India 2026 Summit participants on Saturday.
Government sources told Outlook that invitations had gone out to the chief ministers of Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana but all of them skipped the dinner. Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, who is part of the National Democratic Alliance, also missed the dinner. However, TDP sources said their party representative Civil Aviation Minister Kinjarapu Ram Mohan Naidu attended the dinner.
Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi were not invited. Chief Ministers of Himachal Pradesh and Punjab were also not invited for the gala dinner.
According to sources, the Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy declined the invitation on the grounds that the Assembly session was ongoing in the state. The Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay is not in the country. He is in London for prior engagements. The Kerala Chief Minister V.D. Satheesan also declined citing prior engagements. Karnataka CM D.K. Shivakumar’s office could not be reached.
The dinner also drew international attention for a different reason: Chinese President Xi Jinping skipped the reception altogether after returning to his hotel to rest.
BRICS heads of state and government were present at the dinner, along with Union ministers and chief ministers from BJP-run and allied states. Visuals released by the government showed the leaders arriving together in shuttle buses ahead of the reception.
Chief Ministers Yogi Adityanath (Uttar Pradesh), Pushkar Singh Dhami (Uttarakhand), Nayab S. Saini (Haryana), Bhajan Lal Sharma (Rajasthan), Mohan Yadav (Madhya Pradesh), Himanta Biswa Sarma (Assam), Suvendu Adhikari (West Bengal), Rekha Gupta (Delhi), Devendra Fadnavis (Maharashtra), Bhupendra Patel (Gujarat) along with most of the Union Ministers including Amit Shah, Kiren Rijiju, Nirmala Sitharaman, Mansukh Mandaviya and Ashwini Vaishnaw attended the dinner.
This isn't the first time chief ministers from the Opposition-ruled states have stayed away from events hosted by the government. In 2023, several Opposition Chief Ministers including Siddaramaiah (Karnataka), K. Chandrashekar Rao (KCR) (Telangana), Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy (Andhra Pradesh), Pinarayi Vijayan (Kerala), Ashok Gehlot (Rajasthan), Bhupesh Baghel (Chhattisgarh), and Naveen Patnaik (Odisha) did not attend the G-20 gala dinner hosted by the President Droupadi Murmu.
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When Yogi Adityanath was sworn in as Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister in March 2022, several opposition leaders skipped the ceremony.
The BRICS Summit itself, held under India's 2026 presidency, brought together leaders of the 11-member grouping to discuss multilateralism, reform of global governance, supply chain resilience, climate finance and digital cooperation.
It wrapped up with the adoption of the Delhi Declaration, despite the members having widely differing geopolitical interests.
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