The “gym and some privacy” keep Shashi Tharoor at a suite in the Taj Mahal Hotel in New Delhi. On Wednesday, the Minister of State for External Affairs is hosting an Iftaar party from 6.15 pm at the Diwan-i-Aam of the hotel.

Invites have been sent out by the Ministry — the cards carry the national emblem, mention the MEA’s Protocol division and list its telephone numbers under RSVP.

There have been many Iftaar parties in the past by political leaders but no one recalls one at a five-star deluxe hotel. Tharoor’s predecessor E Ahamed hosted Iftaar parties on his bungalow lawns while in the ministry. Similarly, former minister Ramvilas Paswan hosted parties at the government-owned Ashok Hotel. Even former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee had hosted an Iftaar at the Ashok Hotel.

MEA spokesperson Vishnu Prakash declined to comment but sources said this was part of the “official entertainment” as Tharoor handles the charge of Gulf countries — implying that the bill is being paid by the MEA.

It has been a tradition to host an Iftaar party for envoys of the Gulf countries by the MoS in-charge during Ramzan, said sources. Calls were made to Shashi Tharoor for a comment but he didn’t respond although hours after Pranab Mukherjee’s very public snub, he tweeted: “The govt has never paid a single paisa for my stay at the Taj. This is frankly ridiculous.”