The Hindu : Front Page : Mayawati opts out of summit

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Oct 13, 2007
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Mayawati opts out of summit

NEW DELHI: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati on Friday opted out of the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit 2007 in protest against the last-minute change in her topic, from ‘India That Can Be’ to ‘Are Northern States Dragging India Behind?’ without consulting her.

Explaining her absence from the programme in a statement, Ms. Mayawati said it was odd that a national leader, who is also Chief Minister of the largest State of northern India, should be expected to speak on a topic which denigrated a particular region of the country.

Besides the subject change “without properly informing her,” Ms. Mayawati also took offence at the changed format of the programme.

She was initially scheduled to deliver a speech on ‘India That Can Be’ followed by a discussion with the moderator on ‘Nation Building: The Regional Way Forward.’ But, the printed programme sent to her on Thursday slotted her for an interview on the subject ‘Are Northern States Dragging India Behind?’

The Chief Minister said she had been “looking forward to sharing her views and a healthy interaction on nation building with a distinguished audience, but regrettably had to call off her participation.”

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