Kejriwal not replacing Modi at Wharton, had received invite earlier

Arvind Kejriwal did not replace Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi as a speaker at the Wharton India Economic Forum (WIEF). The Wharton School’s invitation to Kejriwal is dated 25 February - seven days before Modi’s speech was cancelled at the forum. Since Monday, after Modi’s keynote was cancelled due to pressure from a section of students at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, there was speculation that the institute approached Aam Aadmi Party convener as a replacement. According to Wharton School’s e-invitation, that was accessed by Firstpost, Kejriwal was asked to deliver the keynote in the panel ‘government and policy’, scheduled between 2.45 pm and 3.45 pm on 23 March. [caption id=“attachment_648778” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Reuters[/caption] “I really believe that for our keynote on government and policy, nothing else would be more relevant this year than a discussion on citizen activism and clean governance,” read the e- invite sent by Nitin Sharma, head of government/ policy panel for WIEF and one of the lead organisers of the forum. “We definitely believe this would be a great avenue for a lot of prominent Indians here in the New York-New Jersey-Philadelphia area to hear Mr. Kejriwal speak,” said the invitation for the forum. As confirmed speakers this year at the forum, the invitation mentioned Planning Commission deputy chairperson Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Minister of State for IT & Communications Milind Deora, industrialist Gautam Adani and Boman Irani, Anupam Kher, Shabana Azmi from the entertainment fraternity. According to the tentative agenda of the WIFE, the forum will open in Philadelphia on 22 March with a dinner keynote by Wharton Dean, Thomas S Robertson. Following day, there will be nine panels and three keynote speeches. Earlier, Kejriwal told Firstpost that he has not replaced anyone at the forum and he had received an independent invite. Kejriwal will observe an indefinite hunger strike starting 23 March, the day when the WIEF will begin. During his fast, he will be staying with various families in the national capital. Kejriwal said that he will deliver the speech through a video conferencing facility from one of the houses in which he will be staying during his fast.