Listen to your conscience, Congress tells the government the leaders selected for the delegation of the whole party

Congress said on Sunday (May 18, 2025) that after Operation Sindor, it did not stop anyone from becoming part of a diplomatic delegation and being sent to various countries after the government’s named leader, whose leaders must listen to their conscience and contribute to the work.

The Secretary-General of Congress announced that Jairam Ramesh accused the politicized exercise of the delegation of choice of leaders and having “malice intent” exercises, with only one-quarter of the Congress leaders nominated by the party.

Congress said on Saturday (May 17, 2025) that the government requested that the names of four leaders be submitted to four leaders of a foreign delegation to explain India’s position on Pakistan-backed terrorism. It nominated Anand Sharma, Gaurav Gogoi, Syed Naseer Hussain and Amrinder Singh Raja Warring.

Of these four, only Mr. Sharma was included in the seven delegations to visit the countries.

The government is not included in Congress leaders – Shashi Tharoor, Manish Tewari, Amar Singh and Salman Khurshid – the government does not include part of the list forwarded by Congress.

“National interests are the most important”

Mr Ramesh told PTI: “They only have one leader out of the four names we sent. The government has added four other names, they are senior members of our party and leaders. They should listen to their conscience and contribute to the delegation.”

“For Congress, national interests are crucial. This should not be stretched out, and it is not suitable for politicization in this regard,” he said.

He said Congress did not stop anyone and all party members appointed in the delegation would contribute.

Congress selected Mr. Tarole as one of the delegations, which accused the government of playing politics with a “naughty” mentality.

Ramesh refers to Mr Salman Khurshid, saying the four names added by the government include a former foreign minister with extensive experience in foreign policy.

“Cheap Political Game”

“On the morning of May 16, the Modi government asked the MP/leaders four names to represent Congress on behalf of Congress to join the delegation sent abroad by Congress to explain India’s position on Pakistani terrorism,” Ramesh said in a statement last night.

He said in a statement that the four names were conveyed in writing by opposition leaders to Parliamentary Minister Kiren Rijiju in writing in Rahul Gandhi, and said in a statement at 12 noon on May 16.

“A full list of all delegation members has been officially released later tonight (May 17). Most regrettably, including only one of the four names suggested by the leaders of Inc.”

“This proves the total dishonestness of the Modi government and shows the cheap political game it always plays on serious national issues,” Ramesh said.

He said, of course, the four outstanding MPs/leaders included in the Modi government will certainly contribute with the delegation.

“Parliament will not succumb to the pathetic level of the Prime Minister and the BJP. It will always uphold the best traditions of parliamentary democracy, rather than playing partisan politics on national security issues like the BJP,” Ramesh said.

He added that Congress hopes the delegation will go well.

Mr. Ramesh said that these delegations should not be transferred from the request of the Congress to the request of the Prime Minister to preside over the whole party meeting and hold a special session to reaffirm the resolution adopted on 22 February 1994, while also paying attention to future developments.

Seven delegations

Fifty-one political leaders, parliamentarians and former ministers cross-party will be part of seven delegations heading to the world capital to address terrorism in the context of India’s operations in Sindor.

The seven delegations led by Baijayant Panda, Ravi Shankar Prasad (both BJP), Sanjay Kumar Jha (JD(U)), Shrikant Shinde (Shiv Sena), Shashi Tharoor (Congress), Kanimozhi (DMK) and Supriya Sule (NCP-SP) will visit a total of 32 countries and the EU headquarters in Brussels, Belgium.

Each delegation consisted of seven or eight political leaders and was assisted by former diplomats.

Of the 51 political leaders, 31 are part of the dominant NDA, while the remaining 20 are from non-NDA parties.

“One mission. One message. One Bharat. Seven full-party delegations will soon engage with key countries under #OperationsIndoor, which reflects our collective determination to oppose terrorism,” Mr Rijiju said in an article on X (17 May 2025).

The delegation included former Union Ministers Ghulam Nabi Azad, MJ Akbar, Anand Sharma, V Muraleedharan, Salman Khurshid, SS Ahluwalia, who are currently not members of the Parliament.