NEW DELHI: The Rajya Sabha secretariat on Monday said the Vice-President of India never attends ceremonies organised in the memory of political leaders in the Central Hall of Parliament as a matter of convention.
The statement came a day after reports suggested that Vice-President M
Venkaiah Naidu skipped a ceremony held on Sunday on the birth anniversary of the first Prime Minister,
Jawaharlal Nehru, in the Central Hall.
"In this regard, it is hereby stated that the Vice-President of India never attends such ceremonies organised in the Central Hall of Parliament as a matter of convention and it was misleading to suggest that Vice-President Shri M Venkaiah Naidu skipped the ceremony yesterday," the Rajya Sabha secretariat said in a communication.
"The said misleading reports have caused deep distress to the Vice-President," it added.
The secretariat also said that Naidu, who was out of Delhi on Sunday, paid tributes to Nehru and it was also reported in the media.
Opposition parties questioned the absence of Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and Rajya Sabha chairman Naidu at the function to pay tributes to India's first Prime Minister.
They alleged that ministers and senior functionaries were not present at the function either.