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Melania's school visit: Kejriwal, Sisodia not invited

From Ahmedabad, the delegation will travel to Agra before arriving at the national capital for the main leg of the visit.

New Delhi: Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and his deputy Manish Sisodia are unlikely to be present when US First Lady Melania Trump visits the Delhi government-run school in Nanakpura near Moti Bagh on February 25, according to sources.

As per the original schedule, both Mr Kejriwal and Mr Sisodia were to accompany Ms Trump during her visit to the school, people familiar with the matter said. Mr Kejriwal and Mr Sisodia were also to brief the US First Lady about the “happiness curriculum” introduced by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government, sources said.

When contacted, a US embassy spokesperson referred the query on the matter to the Delhi government. There was no immediate reaction from the Delhi government.

US President Donald Trump, accompanied by wife Melania, daughter Ivanka, son-in-law Jared Kushner, and a high-level delegation, will arrive in Ahmedabad around noon on February 24 for a less than 36-hour-long trip to India.

From Ahmedabad, the delegation will travel to Agra before arriving at the national capital for the main leg of the visit.

Vasant Vihar councilor Manish Agrawal said that all departments including the sanitation department and horticulture department are engaged in beautifying the path through which the First Lady will visit the school.

“We have been beautifying the path through which Melania Trump will go to the school. All municipal departments are busy in the preparations,” he said.

AAP on Saturday allegedly said that both Mr Kejriwal and Mr Sisodia, who were given briefs about the “happiness curriculum,” were scheduled to welcome Ms Trump at a South Delhi government school, but their names were dropped by the Central government.

AAP leader Preeti Sharma Menon tweeted about this issue and wrote: “There is no match for the pettiness of Narendra Modi. You may not invite Arvind Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia, but their work speaks for them.”

BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra responded on this controversy and said: “There shouldn’t be low-level politics on some issues. India comes under disrepute if we start pulling each other’s legs. The Indian government doesn’t influence the US, as to whom they invite or not.”

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