Rahul Gandhi too on Wharton wishlist

Rahul Gandhi too on Wharton wishlist for event that dropped Narendra Modi

Date:05/03/2013

New Delhi: The prestigious Wharton India Economic Forum, profusely apologetic about the Narendra Modi fiasco, had clearly planned an ambitious event this year. The organisers have also approached Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi to speak, through his close aide Kanishka Singh, who is a Wharton alumnus. 

Discussions with Mr Gandhi are still on, sources said, but after the embarrassment of having to cancel the Gujarat Chief Minister's keynote address because of pressure from the management of the US college and many alumni members, the student organisers have now reportedly been offered help by an eager Congress party.

Junior minister for Human Resource Development Shashi Tharoor has been approached to be a speaker at the event, and Delhi Chief Minster Sheila Dixit has reportedly even agreed to come down to the Wharton campus in Pennsylvania, USA.The two-day event begins on March 22. Mr Modi was to have spoken via video conferencing on March 23. His name was first among speakers on the event website, but the business school withdrew its invitation yesterday after protests from the management and professors and an anti-Modi signature campaign launched by the alumni. 

The organisers have apologised repeatedly, amidst much criticism in India. One of the main sponsors of the event, the Gujarat-based Adani group has withdrawn funding for the event.    

The organisers have said they are yet to replace Mr Modi; sources at Wharton denied that activist-turned-politician Arvind Kejriwal would take his place. Mr Kejriwal, they said, was only one of the speakers on the panel on public policy.