New Delhi: The Congress made it clear on Sunday that it would not prevent any of its leaders from joining diplomatic delegations being sent to various countries to get support for India’s zero-tolerance policy towards cross-border terrorism supported by Pakistan.
The grand old party underlined that leaders selected to represent the country should listen to their conscience and contribute to the campaign.
Congress general secretary-in-charge (communications) Jairam Ramesh alleged that the government was politicising the selection of delegates and functioning with “malicious intent” as only one of four nominated Congress leaders were picked for the delegations.
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Anand Sharma, Gaurav Gogoi, Syed Naseer Hussain, and Amrinder Singh Raja Warring were nominated for the delegation by the Congress. However, only Anand Sharma has been included in the seven diplomatic delegations scheduled to visit various countries.
Interestingly, Congress leaders who were not nominated by the party — Shashi Tharoor, Manish Tewari, Amar Singh, and Salman Khurshid — were included in the delegations.
Ramesh was quoted by PTI as saying: “They included only one leader out of the four names we sent. Four other names were added by the government, who are senior MPs and leaders of our party, they should listen to their conscience and contribute in the delegations.”
Ramesh added: “For the Congress, national interest is paramount. This matter should not be stretched and more politicisation is not appropriate in this regard.”
Meanwhile, the Congress unit in Kerala has distanced itself from the raging row over Tharoor’s decision to accept the Centre’s invitation to lead a multi-party delegation overseas.
However, senior Congress leader Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan called on Tharoor to prioritise his “primary responsibility” as a Member of Parliament representing the Congress.
