Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury declined an invitation for a banquet in honour of Donald Trump. (File)
Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on Saturday likened US President Donald Trump to "Mogambo" -- a villain played by late actor Amrish Puri in the Bollywood film "Mr India" -- hitting out at the central government for spending crores of rupees to welcome him.
He claimed that the government is doing everything to make "Mogambo" happy.
"What is the need to spend crore of rupees from the government's treasury? People living in slums are being forced to hide or move to make Trump happy. Is this the right behaviour? Gujarat was developed by (PM) Modi as a model for others but the poor are being exploited there. It is like we will do everything to make Mogambo happy. We will protest against the (PM) Modi government," he said.
Mr Chowdhury, who is the Leader of Congress in the Lok Sabha, has also declined the invitation by Rashtrapati Bhavan for the banquet being organised in honour of President Trump on February 25, saying that the invitation was not extended to party's interim president Sonia Gandhi.
"Trump is coming here. India to host a grand dinner for him but the Opposition is not invited. Why Sonia Gandhi is not invited for dinner with Trump. In 'Howdy Modi' event, both Republican and Democrats shared the stage. But here, only PM Modi will be with Trump. What kind of democracy is this?" Mr Chowdhury said, adding that the Centre should respect democracy.
"Trump is coming to India is a very big thing. The US is a powerful nation and we welcome their president in our country. The country which he represents is considered as the oldest democracy and India as the biggest democracy. Democracy has some features which everyone shall respect," he added.
The US President and First Lady Melania Trump will be visiting India on February 24 and 25.
Donald Trump will first visit Prime Minister Narendra Modi's home state Gujarat and take part in a roadshow in Ahmedabad. He will also address the "Namaste Trump" event at Motera Stadium in the city.
Later, he will visit the Taj Mahal in Agra and attend a cultural programme in the city. Donald Trump will then travel to Delhi where he will hold delegation-level talks with the Prime Minister and meet other leaders.