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Congress calls govt ‘dishonest,’ says Tharoor’s name was not proposed for delegation to expose Pakistan on terrorism
Jairam Ramesh said Congress submitted four names for foreign delegations but was surprised to see Shashi Tharoor included instead.
Accusing the government of being “dishonest” in its approach, Congress on Saturday said that it would “not change” the names of its four nominated MPs for the government's proposed delegations to foreign countries to explain India's position on terrorism originating from Pakistan.
This comes after the government named Congress leader Shashi Tharoor among the seven MPs who would represent India at international forums, where they are expected to brief global leaders on Operation Sindoor.
Congress general secretary and Rajya Sabha MP Jairam Ramesh said the party had submitted four names for the government’s proposed foreign delegations and was surprised to see a different name, Shashi Tharoor, announced in the official press release.
“We were asked for names. We expected that the names we had given would be included. We hoped that the names given by the party would be included. But when we saw the press release of PIB, we were surprised. I cannot say what will happen now. Asking four names, giving four names, and announcing another name is dishonest on the government's part,” news agency ANI quoted Jairam Ramesh as saying.
He said it was possible that Union minister Kiren Rijiju had spoken to Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge even after the government had already made its decision, and added that he was willing to give Rijiju the benefit of the doubt.
Congress says four names were proposed for delegation
However, he maintained that the way the situation was handled was dishonest and reiterated that the Congress would not change the four names it had proposed.
“Yesterday (Tuesday) at 12:30 pm, Rahul ji wrote a letter to Kiren Rijiju stating: ‘Dear Shri Kiren Rijiju, I am writing to follow up on a conversation between myself and Kharge ji regarding the delegation to foreign countries. After consulting with Kharge ji, I am sending you four names: Anand Sharma, Gaurav Gogoi, Raja Barar, and Naseer Hussain,’” Ramesh said, providing details of the letter sent by LoP Rahul Gandhi to Kiren Rijiju.
Jairam Ramesh asserted that while all those associated with Congress belong to the party, there is a significant difference between merely being in Congress and truly being of Congress.
He added that the party had extended its full support in all matters, but was “surprised” when the names were announced.
