Narendra Modi rally: BJP invites representatives of foreign missions

NEW DELHI: When BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi addresses a rally in Delhi’s Japani Park on Sunday, there will be an unusual section in the audience: representatives of foreign missions.

The party has extended invitations to envoys of nearly 80 countries, and around 35 missions have confirmed their attendance so far, said Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) functionaries familiar with the matter.

“We in BJP consider all nations at par. So, we have invited many foreign missions, including China, Germany, Sweden, the US, Italy, Japan, the UK and African and CIS countries,” said Vijay Jolly, convenor of BJP’s overseas affairs.

China, Germany, Japan, Italy, Sweden, Afghanistan, Bangladesh and South Africa have already confirmed their participation, but the US embassy is yet to confirm its presence. Jolly had met deputy chief of mission, USA, Michael Pelletier, on Thursday night to extend an invitation for Sunday’s rally.

“This has nothing to do with Modi’s visa issue. We consider the US to be a friendly nation.

I do expect they will send somebody,” Jolly told ET on Friday, adding that efforts to reach out to the various missions will continue till Saturday night.

But the BJP, sticking to its line on Pakistan, didn’t invite India’s neighbour across the border. The party has been opposing Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s proposed talks with his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif in the US, especially after Thursday’s terror attack in Jammu & Kashmir, where 13 people were killed.

BJP is pulling all stops to showcase Modi, and in the invitations sent to the envoys, it has described the event as a “historic programme”.

Nearly 500,000 people are likely to attend the event.

Though it is unprecedented to invite the diplomatic community for a political rally, a BJP functionary recalled that in 2004 the then British High Commissioner was present at the rally of PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

Envoys sometimes attend rallies to get a sense of the political mood, but inviting so many diplomats seems to be a new trend started by the BJP.