The Congress on Saturday was left “surprised” after the government named Shashi Tharoor as the leader of one of the seven multi-party delegations it will be sending abroad to explain India’s stance on terrorism emanating from Pakistan, and hit back at the government saying it was “playing games” with a “mischievous mindset” and it “should not add a name in such delegations without consulting the party”, especially “when it was asked for names and it was given in good faith”.
The Congress insisted that only those recommended by it will be considered as representing the party.
The remarks came after the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs named the leaders of the delegations in a statement, with Tharoor on top of the list followed by Ravi Shankar Prasad (BJP), Sanjay Kumar Jha (JD-U), Baijayant Panda (BJP), Kanimozhi (DMK), Supriya Sule (NCP-SP) and Shrikant Shinde (Shiv Sena).
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said, “in moments that matter most, Bharat stands united. Seven all-party delegations will soon visit key partner nations, carrying our shared message of zero-tolerance to terrorism. A powerful reflection of national unity above politics, beyond differences.”
Soon after the government announced the list of delegation leaders, a fuming Congress expressed its disappointment with the government over nominating a Congress MP as delegation leader “without any consultation with the party”.
Congress sources said Tharoor did not intimate or take permission about the government’s plans to make him a delegation leader. Besides Tharoor, the government has also roped in Salman Khurshid and Manish Tewari to be part of the delegation though both are also not in the Congress’ list.
Speaking to the media, Congress General Secretary and Communications incharge Jairam Ramesh said the party recommended four names – Anand Sharma, Gaurav Gogoi, Syed Naseer Hussain and Raja Brar – after Rijiju spoke with Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Friday morning.
However, he did not elaborate on the omission of Tharoor despite questioned repeatedly.
“The Congress was asked to submit names of four MPs for the delegations to be sent abroad to explain India’s stance on terrorism from Pakistan,” Ramesh said, adding “by noon yesterday (Friday)…the Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha wrote” to Rijiju with the names. He said the party will not reconsider these names but at the same time will not take action against others.
Soon Tharoor also took to X, and wrote, “I am honoured by the invitation of the government of India to lead an all-party delegation to five key capitals, to present our nation’s point of view on recent events. When national interest is involved, and my services are required, I will not be found wanting.”
When asked about Tharoor’s participation, Ramesh refused to give a direct answer but said the party has given four names.
“Congress mein hona aur Congress ka hona mein zameen-aasmaan ka antar hai (There is a huge difference between being in the Congress and of the Congress),” he said taking a swipe at Tharoor.
He also hit back at the government and said that is “dishonest” and “mischievous” to ask for names “when in all probability, they had decided the names even before that”. Ramesh also said that the grand old party was surprised by the announcement made by the government.
Ramesh said, “We have been demanding an all-party meeting (after the ceasefire announcement). On two previous occasions, the Prime Minister did not come. He has not acceded to our demand for a special session. Suddenly, we hear about these multi-party delegations because the government’s narrative has been punctured with the hyphenation of India-Pakistan.”
The Congress choices, including that surprise inclusion of former Union Minister Anand Sharma, came at a time the party feels that Tharoor has crossed the “Lakshman Rekha” with his praise of the government while the party has raised questions on Operation Sindoor and ceasefire announcement.
Ramesh also slammed the government and said that US President gave interview to Fox News for seventh time and again reiterated that he was responsible for ceasefire. And Trump claimed that he made India to accept ceasefire due to trade.
“Now India is sending an all party delegation, this should happen and happen with honesty not by defaming Congress,” Jairam said.
He criticised the government and while taking a pot shot said, “This is not a politics of honesty, there policies have failed, there narrative has failed. Government does not want to convene special session of Parliament and the Prime Minister does not want to face the MPs.”
He said, “We still demand that all party delegation should go, all party meeting should be chaired by the Prime Minister. All Chief Ministers should be called in meeting with the Prime Minister. Special session of Parliament must be convened and the issues that have arose following Pahalgam that needs to be discussed in detail.”
He also said that there is no rift in Congress and the Congress is one. “Congress president and LoP have taken a decision and everyone needs to follow that,” he said.
The Congress leader also said that the party kept secrecy of four names, and no other names was discussed during the call with Kharge and Rahul Gandhi.
He maintained that the Congress suggested four names, and no specific name was discussed, when pressed if Tharoor name was discussed by the government.
He further said that till now the narrative of the Prime Minister was of Vishwaguru and they didn’t listen to opposition and blamed Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru for everything.
“Now they realized that we have to send an all party delegation. What suddenly happened? What MP BJP leaders said, what Nishikant Dubey said, what Ramesh Bidhuri said. They did not spare Vikram Misri, Colonel Sofia Qureshi. And now the narrative of Vishwaguru has came to an end,” Jairam added.