Union minister Shripad Naik, who handles the AYUSH portfolio, reacts to the outrage over Vice presdient Hamid Ansari's perceived snub on yoga day. The vice president was NOT invited to Rajpath as India showcased yoga on International Yoga day on Sunday.


Naik cited protocol saying it was inappropriate to invite the vice president since the PM was the chief guest.


However, the vice-president's office rubbished the protocol issue saying the vice president can be invited by the concerned ministry, but this time he wasn't. Had he been invited he would have attended the event. Dr Ansari practices yoga regularly, his office said.

Hamid Ansari has said that he was not invited to the yoga day event in Delhi after his absence was questioned by senior Bharatiya Janata Party and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh leader Ram Madhav.


Madhav had deleted a tweet questioning Ansari's absence and then apologised to him saying he later learnt that the vice president was unwell.

The vice president's office said that was not correct. "Vice president was not unwell. He was never invited for the yoga programme," it said, adding, "The vice president only attends those programmes in which the minister concerned invites him as per protocol."

Madhav, a national general secretary of the BJP, had in the tweet questioned whether Rajya Sabha TV had blacked out Yoga Day and whether Ansari had given the event a miss. Though he deleted the tweet, several Twitter users shared screenshots of it.