TMC pulls out Yusuf Pathan from global outreach: ‘How can govt decide our face'
The Trinamool Congress (TMC) has conveyed to the Narendra Modi government that it will not send Yusuf Pathan or any other party MP as a part of multi-party delegations announced by the Centre as part of its efforts to rally global support for India's war against terror emanating from Pakistan.
The central government has named cricketer-turned-politician Yusuf Pathan, who is a TMC MP from the Baharampur Lok Sabha seat in Murshidabad, as a member of one of the seven multi-party delegations, which are going to visit several countries in the coming days to convey India's message in the wake of the Pahalgam terror attack and Operation Sindoor. Pathan is the only TMC member included in such a delegation.
'How can the Union government decide on the representative of Trinamool? They should have held discussions with the Opposition to decide which representative a party will send,' said Abhishek Banerjee, the TMC national general secretary and MP, while speaking to the media at the Kolkata airport on Monday.
'How can the BJP decide which representative Trinamool will send? Trinamool is not boycotting the (all-party) meeting. Trinamool is the only party which has not politicised the matter of national security,' said Abhishek.
According to the TMC camp, the party on Sunday conveyed to the Modi government that Yusuf Pathan or any other party MP will not be part of the global outreach delegations.
'We believe that the nation is above all and we pledged our support to the Union government to take whatever action was needed to protect our great country. Our Armed Forces have made our nation proud and we are forever indebted to them. Foreign policy is entirely within the domain of the Union government. Therefore, let only the Union government decide our foreign policy and take complete responsibility for it,' said a senior MP speaking to The Indian Express.
Senior TMC leaders said the party has not only supported the Centre on the issue of terrorism emanating from Pakistan but is at present holding meetings throughout West Bengal to rally behind the Indian Armed Forces and celebrate Operation Sindoor against Pakistan.
Ravik Bhattacharya is the Chief of Bureau of The Indian Express, Kolkata. Over 20 years of experience in the media industry and covered politics, crime, major incidents and issues, apart from investigative stories in West Bengal, Odisha, Assam and Andaman Nicobar islands. Ravik won the Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Award in 2007 for political reporting.
Ravik holds a bachelor degree with English Hons from Scottish Church College under Calcutta University and a PG diploma in mass communication from Jadavpur University. Ravik started his career with The Asian Age and then moved to The Statesman, The Telegraph and Hindustan Times. ... Read More
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