VIP focus produced public resentment

Did the gatekeepers at the India AI Summit decide that they needed to be Gateskeepers? Was Bill Gates quietly told that he would not be welcome at a Summit that is already reeling from controversy after controversy?
It does look like that. Even before the event, government ‘sources’ were quoted as saying there had been a change of plan and that Gates would not be speaking. But the Gates Foundation insisted that he would address the Summit as scheduled.