The management at Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania is reportedly apprehensive about having Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi as one of the keynote speakers at the prestigious Wharton India Economic Forum to be held in Philadelphia on March 23, sources have said.
The BJP leader was approached by the students who organised the forum and had agreed to deliver a key note address at the prestigious meet through video conference. But sources now say that the management might ask for Mr Modi to be removed from the speakers’ list.
Wharton India Economic Forum is an annual student-run India-centric conference hosted by the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. A student from the group of organisers told NDTV they invited Mr Modi because they were impressed with Gujarat’s growth story.
Last month, the Gujarat Chief Minister had faced protests while delivering a speech at Delhi’s prestigious Shri Ram College of Commerce (SRCC). As he addressed an audience of 1800 students inside the college, a group of students raised slogans and protested against him outside saying the invitation to him overlooked the communal riots in Gujarat in 2002 in which 1200 people were killed while he was in office. The police had to use water cannons and canes to control the protests. Mr Modi was picked by SRCC students over other potential speakers in an internal poll.
Since its inception 16 years ago, Wharton India Economic Forum has emerged as one of the largest and most prestigious India-focused business conferences that provides a platform for leaders to discuss the opportunities present in India and the challenges that need to be addressed.
Among other eminent guests invited for the day-long Wharton India Economic Forum are Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Union Minister of State for IT and Communications Milind Deora, chairman of the Adani Group Gautam Adani, actress Shabana Azmi and poet and scriptwriter Javed Akhtar.
Earlier, keynote speakers have included former president Dr A P J Abdul Kalam, Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram, BJP leader Varun Gandhi and industrialist Anil Ambani.