‘Not appropriate to do politics’ Jairam Ramesh on Central Govt dropping recommended names for all-party panel

NEW DELHI: Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh on Sunday expressed strong objection to the central government choosing only one party MP out its four nominations for the all party-delegations formed to mobilise global support on Operation Sindoor.

Jairam Ramesh said that it is not “appropriate” to do politics, after the Central government selected members that were not recommended by Congress, most notably Shashi Tharoor.

“Rahul Gandhi wrote a letter and before 12 noon on the 16th May, we sent 4 names from our party for the all-party MPs delegation- Anand Sharma, Gaurav Gogoi, Nasir Hussain and Raja Brar. The government had mischievous intentions from the beginning, they added 4 more names which were not in our list… We know that Operation Sindoor is being politicised… But the Congress party believes that national interest is paramount… They have included only one name from our list, 4 more are our MPs, they are not representatives of the party, but they should listen to their conscience and not politicise it,” Jairam Ramesh said.

The Congress has recommended Anand Sharma, Gaurav Gogoi, Nasir Hussain and Raja Brar to be part of the delegation. However BJP-led central government chose only Anand Sharma from the recommended list and took the liberty to select other Congress members including Shashi Tharoor, Manish Tewari, Amar Singh and Salman Khurshid for the delegations.

Speaking about the four other names chosen by government, Jairam Ramesh said, “The four names that have been added (by Govt) are senior MPs, one of whom has been a former foreign minister as well, he is experienced, there is no doubt that he knows good foreign policy. He should listen to his conscience. Four names were sought from us on behalf of our party, and we have given them. It would not be appropriate to do politics on this.”

The all-party delegations will project India’s national consensus and resolute approach to combating terrorism in all forms and manifestations. They would carry forth to the world the country’s strong message of zero tolerance against terrorism.

The list includes MPs from multiple parties, divided into seven groups of 8-9 members. A leader has been assigned for each group, who will lead the delegation at a 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.” (ANI)