Let’s see, says ‘busy’ Yediyurappa on whether he’ll join Trump banquet

Bengaluru: Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa is one among several chief ministers of state ruled by the BJP and its allies to have been invited for the banquet being hosted for US President Donald Trump at Rashtrapati Bhavan on Tuesday, but he is yet to decide whether he will attend.

“I have been invited, but I have various engagements and work, let’s see,” Yediyurappa told reporters at the headquarters town of Shivamogga.

No Opposition chief ministers have been invited for the dinner, including Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal of Delhi, where the dinner is being hosted, and whose government schools will be shown off to First Lady Melania Trump.

Chief Ministers of Telangana K Chandrasekhar Rao, Maharashtra Uddhav Thackeray, Tamil Nadu Edappadi K Palaniswami, Haryana Manohar Lal Khattar and Odisha Biju Patnaik will be attending the dinner hosted in honour of the US President.

Among the other 80-90 guests invited for the banquet are top Union ministers, high-level bureaucrats, diplomats, industrialists and popular film and theatre personalities.

Asked about expectations from the Trump visit, Yediyurappa, whose state has one of the largest global tech industries in the country said, “Let’s see, what all agreements happen in two days.” “President of a powerful and rich country like America visiting is not a normal thing. He (Trump) has said that he personally shares good relationship with PM Modi and has confidence in him...let’s wait and see.”

Trump, accompanied by First Lady Melania Trump and a high-level delegation, arrived in Ahmedabad around noon on Monday for a little less than a 36-hour-long trip.