Wharton, Narendra Modi and Arvind Kejriwal: Key developments

Wharton India Economic Forum, an annual student-run India-centric conference hosted by the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania had announced late last month that Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi would be among its keynote speakers for the 23 March event. However, after protests from students, they decided to drop the controversial politician. Now Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal has been deputed to speak at the Wharton forum, but insists that he had an independent invitation and was not anyone’s ‘replacement’. Here are the key developments: * Since its inception 16 years ago, the meet 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. [caption id=“attachment_647747” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Students protest outside a Delhi college after Narendra Modi was invited to deliver a lecture. Reuters[/caption] * The forum had announced late last month that Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi would be among its keynote speakers for the 23 March event. * However, on 2 March, reports suggested that the management at Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania was apprehensive about having the Gujarat chief minister as one of its key speakers. * This, after a section of students and professors wrote to the management condemning their decision to invite Modi as a keynote speaker. In a strongly worded letter, they said: “This is the same politician who was refused a diplomatic visa by the United States State Department on 18 March 2005 on the ground that he, as Chief Minister, did nothing to prevent a series of orchestrated riots that targeted Muslims in Gujarat.” * Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal has been deputed to speak at the Wharton forum, but insists that he had an independent invitation and was not anyone’s ‘replacement’. * On Monday, an official statement from the Wharton India Economic Forum stated that Modi had been dropped from the list of keynote speakers. “As it stands currently, Mr. Modi’s keynote address at Wharton India Economic Forum has been cancelled.” * Reacting to the development, Modi’s party, the BJP, said it was unperturbed. " It doesn’t matter as Americans don’t vote in India", said party spokesperson Prakash Javadekar. Shiv Sena leader Suresh Prabhu said however, that the decision by Wharton was an insult to India. ““Wharton’s move (to drop Modi) is an insult to India.” * The Congress has not yet reacted to the development. * Chairman of the Adani Group, Gautam Adani, has also canceled his Wharton visit apparently in support of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi. His company, though, said Adani had backed-out of the event almost a fortnight ago in an apparent clarification that his absence is not related to the cancellation of Modi’s address. * In February this year, Modi had faced protests while delivering a speech at Delhi’s Shri Ram College of Commerce (SRCC). As he addressed an audience of students inside the college premises, a group of students protested against him outside saying the invitation to him overlooked the communal riots in Gujarat in 2002, when he was chief minister. You can read Wharton School’s statement on cancelling Modi’s keynote address below: