President hosts Iftar party at Rashtrapati Bhavan

President Pranab Mukherjee with Vice President Hamid Ansari and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley at an Iftar party hosted at the Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi on Friday

New Delhi: President Pranab Mukherjee on Friday evening hosted an Iftar reception at Rashtrapati Bhavan which was attended among others by Vice President Hamid Ansari, Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Union Ministers, including Arun Jaitley.

President Pranab Mukherjee with Vice President Hamid Ansari and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley at an Iftar party hosted at the Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi on Friday. Pic. PTI

However, Prime Minister Narendra Modi was conspicuous by his absence.

The President conveyed Ramzan greetings to all on the occasion and urged everyone "to spread love, affection and mutual trust during this holy month," an official statement said.

Mukherjee also expressed the hope that the spirit of Ramzan will instill in every Indian a sense of unity and pride in the composite culture of India.

Dignitaries who attended the Iftar also Union Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal besides Ghulam Nabi Azad, Sitaram Yechuri and Sheila Dixit and heads of diplomatic missions and senior officials and religious public leaders, the official release said.

BJP sources, however, said Prime Minister had a busy schedule as he was to be briefed about internal security situation by Home Minister Rajnath Singh and others.