New Delhi: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal will not be part of the Indian official delegation at the Vatican ceremony to canonize Mother Teresa on September 4.
The official team is headed by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj.
Both Banerjee and Kejriwal travel separately, according to dnaindia.com.
Trinamool Congress sources told ANI that the Head of Missionaries of Charity Sister Prema personally invited Banerjee for ceremony to be held on September 4. The Trinamool delegation to the Vatican will comprise of Banerjee, Derek O’ Brien, Sudip Bandopadhyay and two senior officials from the West Bengal government.
Similarly, sources at the office of the Delhi Chief Minister said that they too had received a personal invitation from the Missionaries of Charity and added that so far there is no communication or request from the federal government to join the official delegation. Kejriwal had earlier worked with the Missionaries of Charity in Kolkata.
Earlier, the Ministry of External Affairs said that the Indian delegation will be led b Swaraj. The composition of the delegation is presently being finalized. In March this year, Pope Francis had announced that Mother Teresa would be canonized at a ceremony on September 4 on the eve of her 19th death anniversary.