Hyderabad's first citizen not invited to Global Entrepreneurship Summit

Hyderabad: As the first citizen of the city, the Mayor could reasonably have expected to be a major presence at the three-day Global Entrepreneurship Summit being held in the city currently. So Hyderabad’s Mayor Bonthu Rammohan was in for a rude shock when he found out that the state’s general administration department (GAD) had not sent him an invitation to attend.

He was kept out of the inaugural session of the GES on November 28 evening and nor was he on hand to receive the guests. Though the summit is being overseen by the Government of India, it is co-hosted by the Telangana government, and according to protocol, the Mayor is supposed to receive and greet state guests. Excluding him in this way is unprecedented.

The Mayor’s office informed Deccan Chronicle that the GAD did inform the Mayor that Prime Minister Modi would arrive at Begumpet airport on November 28, but also said that the line-up to receive the PM would be 48 individuals, including top police and administrative brass, the Chief Minister and Governor. The Mayor was not given any clarity on his presence in the line-up.

Deputy Mayor Baba Fasihuddin was also not invited to the summit and no passes were issued to officials from the Mayor’s office.

No reason has been given for the Mayor’s exclusion. According to sources, the Mayor expressed his anger over officials holding top ranks missing out on the invite. Several attempts were made to get GAD’s comment. The Protocol office merely informed that its officials were busy.