After TMC pulls out Yusuf Pathan, Abhishek says ‘Party stands with Centre on combating terror but they cannot decide unilaterally’
Kolkata: Asserting that Trinamool Congress will stand with the Centre shoulder to shoulder in combating terrorism, TMC General Secretary and Diamond Harbour MP Abhishek Banerjee on Monday said that the Union Government cannot decide who will go from which party unilaterally. “I don’t know from where you got this information. I am saying this very clearly that whatever decision the Union Government takes, which aims at combating terrorism to protect the national interest of the country, TMC will stand with the Centre shoulder to shoulder,” Banerjee said when asked if TMC has opted out of the Centre’s multi-party diplomatic mission aimed at countering Pakistan-sponsored terrorism..He further said that they do not have a problem with any delegation going, adding that the party should decide which member will go in the delegation. “We do not have a problem with any delegation going…Which member of our party will go in the delegation is the decision of my party. The Centre or the Union Government cannot decide who will go from which party unilaterally… Which member of TMC, DMK, Congress, AAP and Samajwadi Party will go in the delegation should be decided by the party itself,” he added.
The TMC leader said that the party is not boycotting Operation Sindoor and have never boycotted it. “TMC is not boycotting Operation Sindoor. We have never boycotted Operation Sindoor. TMC is the only party which has not politicised this issue. The ruling dispensation, including some opposition parties, has also tried to politicise it, and I condemn this. There is no room for politics when it comes to the country,” Banerjee said. Trinamool Congress leader Sagarika Ghosh said that foreign policy is entirely the domain of the government and it must bear full responsibility for our foreign relations. “AITCofficial stands shoulder to shoulder in total solidarity with our armed forces for effective long term deterrence against Pakistan- based terrorism. The nation, the flag, and our national resolve belong to all of India and to every proud citizen,” Ghosh posted on X.
Sources in the Trinamool Congress on Monday said that no MP or leader of the party will join the outreach initiative, introduced by the Indian government to send a multi-party delegation to over 30 countries. Earlier it was reported that (TMC) MP from Baharampur Yusuf Pathan could be a part of the delegations. The multi-party delegation, consisting of seven groups led by one MP each, has been initiated to counter global misinformation and highlight India’s zero-tolerance policy on terrorism. The list include Member of Parliaments from multi-parties which have been divided into seven groups consisting of 8-9 members. A leader has been assigned for each group who will lead the delegation on global level. Union Minister Kiren Rijiju, while posting the list on Saturday, also highlighted how the Members of Parliament have shown a united stance of “One mission. One message. One Bharat.” “One mission. One message. One Bharat. Seven All-Party Delegations will soon engage key nations under Operation Sindoor, reflecting our collective resolve against terrorism. Here’s the list of MPs & delegations representing this united front,” Rijiju said in a post on X.
Earlier, the Centre’s action of selecting and including Yusuf Pathan, the cricketer-turned-politician and Lok Sabha member from Baharampur constituency of West Bengal, in the multi-party delegation on Operation Sindoor without consulting Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, prompted Trinamool Congress to withdraw his name. Officially, as of now, nothing has been stated on the reasons that prompted the decision. However, sources in the party said that since Trinamool Congress has its own separate identity and internal discipline, the leadership could not accept the BJP’s or the Union government’s “one-sided selection” of a party MP as a member of the multi-party delegation. “Mamata Banerjee was not informed about Pathan’s selection as a member of the delegation in advance. The matter was also not officially communicated to the party leadership. Instead, the Lok Sabha member concerned was contacted directly for his passport details. Neither the BJP nor the Union government can unilaterally decide on who will represent Trinamool Congress in any multi-party delegation,” said a senior leader of the party who did not wish to be named.
Officially, the version of Trinamool Congress as stated by Derek O’Brien, the party’s Parliamentary team leader in Rajya Sabha, is that although the party leadership is wholeheartedly behind any initiative by the Union government adopted for national interest, it wants international diplomacy to be handled by the Centre alone. Incidentally, Trinamool Congress leadership, including the Chief Minister, had been maintaining an extremely cautious stand in giving reactions on Operation Sindoor, through which the Indian armed forces crushed several terror bases in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. Even the Chief Minister himself avoids making comments on the matter while interacting with the media persons. Even once, when the veteran party Lok Sabha member Saugata Roy last week made some loose comments on Operation Sindoor, the party indirectly censored him and issued a statement disapproving of Roy’s comments on Operation Sindoor. “Let us emphatically state that the statement made by Prof Saugata Roy, MP, is not the opinion of the All India Trinamool Congress,” the statement read. At the same time, the party leadership issued a strong note of warning to all ranks and files in the party on refraining from any public comment about this nationally sensitive issue, be it on social media or to media persons, or in any public meeting.
Group 1, led by Bharatiya Janata Party MP Baijayant Panda will be visiting Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Algeria. Three more BJP MPs–Nishikant Dubey, Phangnon Konyak, Rekha Sharma are part of the group. AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi, former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, nominated Rajya Sabha member Satnam Singh Sandhu and Former Foreign Secretary Harsh Shringla will be part of the group.
Group 2, led by BJP’s Ravi Shankar Prasad will be going to certain European countries, including to United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Denmark and others. BJP’s Daggubati Purandeswari and Samik Bhattacharya, along with Shiv Sena (UBT)’s Priyanka Chaturvedi, nominated Rajya Sabha member Ghulam Ali Khatana, Congress’ Amar Singh, former Minister of state for External Affairs MJ Akbar will be part of this group.
Group 3 is led by Sanjay Kumar Jha, Janata Dal (United)’s National Working President. The nine member group will be visiting Indonesia, Malaysia, Republic of Korea, Japan, and Singapore. BJP’s Aparajita Sarangi, Brij Lal, Pradan Baruah, Hemang Joshi, along with Trinamool Congress’s Yusuf Pathan, CPI(M)’s John Brittas, former External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid and Mohan Kumar are part of the group.
Group 4 will be led by Shiv Sena MP Shrikant Eknath Shinde, who will be visiting United Arab Emirates , Liberia, Congo, and Sierra Leone. BJP’s Bansuri Swaraj, Atul Garg, Manan Kumar Mishra, along with Opposition members including Indian Union Muslim League MP Mohammed Basheer, BJD’s Sasmit Patra, and Sujan Chinoy will be part of the group.
Group 5 is led by Congress’ Shashi Tharoor, with them slated to go to United States, Panama, Guyana, Brazil, and Colombia. BJP’s Shashank Mani Tripathi, Bhubaneswar Kalita, and Tejasvi Surya, along with LJP (Ram Vilas)’s Shambhavi Choudhary, TDP’s GM Harish Balayogi, Shiv Sena’s Milind Deora, JMM’s Sarfaraz Ahmad will be accompanied along with former Ambassador to US, Taranjit Singh Sandhu.
Group 6, led by DMK MP Kanimozhi Karunanidhi will be going to a second group of European countries, such as Spain, Greece, Slovenia, Latvia, and Russia. Samajwadi Party’s Rajeev Rai, National Conference’s Mian Altaf Ahmad, BJP’s Brijesh Chowta, RJD’s Prem Chand Gupta, AAP’s Ashok Kumar Mittal will be accompanied by Manjeev S Puri, and Jawed Ashraf.
Group 7, led by NCP (SCP) MP Supriya Sule will be representing India’s stand in Egypt, Qatar, Ethiopia, and South Africa. BJP’s Rajiv Pratap Ruddy, Anurag Singh Thakur, V Muraleedharan along with Congress’ Manish Tewari, Anand Sharma, TDP’s Lavu Sri Krishna Devarayalu, AAP’s Vikramjeet Singh Sahney, and former permanent representative of India to UN, Syed Akbaruddin will be putting forth India’s policy of zero-tolerance against terrorism.
Operation Sindoor was launched on May 7, targeting terror bases in Pakistan in retaliation for the deadly Pahalgam terror attack on April 22.
