Party general secretary Jairam Ramesh alleged that the government was playing games on a serious and sensitive matter
NEW DELHI — There is no need to politicise the visit of the all-party MPs’ delegation to different countries, the Congress has asserted. It said the country remains united in its fight against terrorism and for teaching Pakistan a lesson.
The party, however, questioned the intentions of the government in sending the all-party MPs’ delegation to different countries to put forth India’s point of view on the issue of the Pahalgam terror attack and the ensuing developments.
During a briefing on Saturday, Congress general secretary (communications), Jairam Ramesh, observed that the delegation’s visiting foreign countries was an afterthought as the government has realised that its narrative has failed.
Replying to a question on the nomination of MPs from his party for the delegation, the Congress general secretary said that the government was playing games on a serious and sensitive matter. “While the Congress is playing by the rules, the other party (the BJP) is targeting the bodyline”, he remarked while drawing parallels with cricket where bodyline bowling is considered against the rules.
He said the Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju had spoken to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and asked for four names. He said the Congress party was surprised by the names included in the delegation, which had not been recommended by it (the Congress).
He said the party had nominated Anand Sharma, a former union minister and three-time MP; Gaurav Gogoi, Deputy Leader of Congress in the Lok Sabha; Syed Naseer Hussain, Rajya Sabha member; and Amarinder Singh Raja ‘Warring’ Brar, Lok Sabha member. He said the party gave the names with sincere intention and not with any malicious mindset.
He observed, it is highly probable that the BJP had already decided about the names of the MPs for the delegation and had talked to Kharge and Gandhi merely as a formality.
Jairam Ramesh reiterated the party’s demand for holding an all-party meeting and calling a special session of the Parliament to discuss the sensitive issue. He said the country needs to reaffirm and reiterate the February 22, 1994, unanimous resolution of the Parliament seeking to get back the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
Besides, he added, important issues like the developments in the aftermath of the Pahalgam terror attack, challenges posed by Pakistan and China, and the relationship with the US need to be discussed in the special session.
He also demanded that the prime minister should call all the chief ministers from across the country for the scheduled meeting on 25th May, and not just the chief ministers of the NDA-ruled states.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he said, had not broken his silence over what the US President Donald Trump has been repeatedly saying. Trump, he said, mentioned it seventh time last evening that he had mediated the ceasefire between India and Pakistan. He referred to Trump’s tactic of dangling the carrot of trade as an allurement to end the war.
Maintaining that the Congress party supports sending an all-party delegation to different countries, he said, the MPs must talk about terrorism, which is the main issue and not Kashmir, as the US president is trying to suggest.
Observing that the decision to send all-party MPs to different countries was a diversionary tactic, he said, this was sheer opportunism as the government had lost the narrative.
Ramesh also criticised the government’s stand during the IMF discussion for sanctioning a loan to Pakistan, saying that India should have opposed the proposal instead of abstaining from the voting.
