Amid row, Centre says never asked Opposition parties to send names for Operation Sindoor delegations

Union Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Kiren Rijiju. (File/PTI)

Amid controversy over the composition of multi-party delegations announced the government as part of its global outreach to convey India's message under Operation Sindoor, the Centre has outrightly denied the Congress' claim that the government sought names of representatives to be included in the delegations.

"No party was asked to suggest names for the multi-party delegations for rallying global support for India’s war against terror originating from Pakistan. The government has picked leaders including those from the Opposition and contacted them directly but the Opposition should not make it an issue as they are on a solemn duty representing the country, not a party," Union Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Kiren Rijiju told The Indian Express.

The minister's remarks came after the Congress party claimed that the Centre did not include the names that the party had sent on following a conversation with Rijiju.

Reacting to the minister's claims that the government never asked any party for names for the multi-party delegations, the Congress termed it "a lie" and detailed the sequence of events that led to the party sending a letter with its nominations.

"That (Rijiju's claim) is a lie...He (Rijiju) had a conversation with Congress president (Kharge) and LoP in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on May 16. Immediately after that, a letter was sent to Kiren Rijiju by Mr Rahul Gandhi formally, suggesting four names from the Congress party. They (government) selected one (Anand Sharma) of the four. They had already made up their mind," Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said, adding that the government had already made up its mind by then.

"There is nothing against them (the chosen members). They are senior and experienced Congress MPs. One of them is a former foreign minister (Salman Khurshid) and others are also experienced on national security… We don’t want to make it a topic of politics anymore. The delegations are going," Ramesh said.

In his interaction with IE, Rijiju said that the Opposition should refrain from creating a controversy on the issue. "The delegations were picked for a solemn duty. They are not representing any party, they are representing the country. It’s a time we should stand united and the Opposition should cooperate with the government in its efforts to do its duty," he said.

Justifying the Centre's decision on selecting the members of the all-party delegation, Rijiju said that the Lok Sabha or Rajya Sabha Chairman do not consults party leadership when MPs are selected for foreign visits. "It's the same with the government," he said.

On the Congress' claim that Rijiju held a conversation with the Lok Sabha LoP and Rajya Sabha LoP on the matter, Rijiju said, "I called Leaders of Opposition Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge and informed them about the delegations. It was after the government picked the members (of the delegations). Rahul Gandhi said he would get back after discussing with Kharge ji. Then he sent the list with four names. But by that time we had selected the members. The call was just a courtesy,” Rijiju said, adding that ex-Union minister Anand Sharma whose name was added to a delegation figured in the Congress’s list.

The names sent by the Congress to the Centre for these delegations included Anand Sharma, party’s Deputy Leader in the Lok Sabha, Gaurav Gogoi, and MPs Syed Naseer Hussain and Amarinder Singh Raja Warring. The Centre's list, on the other hand, included Salman Khurshid, Manish Tewari and Amar Singh.

Notably, the Congress did not recommend the name of Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor whom the Centre has picked to lead one of the delegations.

The Trinamool Congress, which on Monday said its Lok Sabha MP Yusuf Pathan would not be part of the delegation since the party was not consulted on the matter, on Tuesday said its MP Abhishek Banerjee would be part of the delegation.