Sri Lanka's PM celebrates Navaratri with 'long-time friend & colleague' Subramanian Swamy

Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa on Wednesday celebrated Navratri with his 'long time friend and colleague' senior Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) leader Subramanian Swamy at his residence Temple Trees in Colombo. The former Rajya Sabha MP is in Sri Lanka on a two-day visit at the invitation of Rajapaksa.

"Spent a lovely evening celebrating the auspicious festival of #Navaratri with long time friend and colleague @Swamy39. I wish everyone a safe, prosperous and blessed  #Navaratri2021. May the triumph of good over evil illuminate the path we travel with countless blessings," Sri Lanka Prime Minister tweeted.

Subramanian Sway also called on President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and advocated for strong relations between India and Sri Lanka. During his visit, Swamy is slated to meet Fisheries Minister Douglas Devananda and scheduled to address a forum at INSS (Institute of National Security Studies) of the Defence Ministry.

BJP MP Subramanian Swamy is an old friend of Rajapaksa and is popular among the majority Sinhala community in the island nation. On several occasions, he has also batted for strong India- Sri Lanka relations.

Meanwhile, Chief of Army Staff General MM Naravane is also on a four-day visit to Sri Lanka to strengthen bilateral military ties and discuss regional security. The army chief will hold talks with the top military brass of Sri Lanka and will meet Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa and President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

"The Army chief will take forward the excellent defence cooperation between Sri Lanka and India through multiple meetings with senior officials of the security establishment and exchange views on various defence-related issues," it said in a statement.

Subramanian Swamy dropped from BJP's national executive

In an organisational rejig ahead of forthcoming Assembly polls, BJP added several new faces in the 80-member National Executive, including prime minister Narendra Modi. However, Subramanian Swamy, Maneka Gandhi and his son Varun Gandhi and others were left out of this body. The prominent new inductees include Jyotiraditya Scindia, Smriti Irani, Mansukh Mandaviya among others.

After this development, Swamy removed “BJP National Exec. member”  from his Twitter bio. His current bio reads, "Rajya Sabha MP, Former Union Cabinet Minister, Harvard Ph.D in Economics; Professor, I give as good as I get".