Trinamool MP Yusuf Pathan declines government's Operation Sindoor delegation invite
Kolkata: Trinamool Congress MP Yusuf Pathan, who was named by the government to join an all-party parliamentary delegation for the 'Operation Sindoor' diplomatic outreach, is reportedly set to skip the initiative.
The government included his name without consulting the Trinamool Congress, although the government had reached out to the MP directly, India Today quoted party sources as saying.
The former cricketer-turned-politician has conveyed that he will not be able to join the delegation.
According to the report, Pathan was invited to be part of the team led by JD(U) MP Sanjay Jha, which is set to visit Indonesia, Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore as part of the government's diplomatic mission.
Objecting to the Centre's choice of MP to represent the Trinamool Congress, the party's National General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee questioned, “How can the Union Government decide on the representative of Trinamool?” He added that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) should have held discussions with the opposition to decide which representative a party will send.
Meanwhile, a senior Trinamool Congress leader pointed out that foreign policy comes under the Union government’s domain and it should take complete responsibility of such matters.
"We believe that the nation is above all, and we pledged our support to the Union government to take whatever action needed to protect our great nation. 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," the TMC leader said.
The government recently announced that seven all-party delegations will be sent to key partner countries, including members of the UN Security Council, later this month to convey India's message of zero tolerance against terrorism.
A statement by the Parliamentary Affairs Ministry said, "The all-party delegations will project India's national consensus and resolute approach to combating terrorism in all forms and manifestations. They would carry forth to the world the country's strong message of zero tolerance against terrorism."
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Cong performed better in Kerala, anti-incumbency trends influenced WB, TN: CM Siddaramaiah
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Monday said the Congress had largely met or exceeded expectations in several States, even as results in some regions reflected shifting voter sentiments.
Speaking to reporters in Bengaluru, he said the party accepted the mandate in Assam while performing better than anticipated in Kerala.
He also pointed to possible anti-incumbency trends influencing outcomes in West Bengal and Tamil Nadu.
“In Assam, we got the expected result, and we accept the people’s mandate. In Kerala, we have won more seats than expected. We anticipated around 76 to 80, but we have gone up to around 95,” Siddaramaiah said.
In West Bengal and Tamil Nadu, there may have been an anti-incumbency trend, and that could have influenced the results, he added.
Siddaramaiah also extended his congratulations to a new political entrant in Tamil Nadu, noting the emergence of a different electoral dynamic in the State.
“I congratulate the new entrant who has achieved success there,” he added.
Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar said electoral outcomes in some States had diverged from the party’s internal assessments, reflecting evolving voter expectations.
“We expected a certain trend, but the results have been different. Political reading was wrong in some places,” he said.
“People were looking for change in some States, and that has been reflected in the results,” Shivakumar, who is also the Congress Karnataka unit president, said.
Referring to Kerala, he said the Congress-led alliance had benefited from public sentiment.
“There was already an expectation based on local body elections, and people had shown confidence in us. That has translated into a strong result,” the Deputy Chief Minister said.
On Tamil Nadu, he acknowledged that the scale of political shift had come as a surprise.
“We expected to secure around 30 to 40 per cent of the vote share, but such a major shift was not anticipated. It shows that voter expectations were different,” he said.
Shivakumar added that electoral outcomes underscored the need for better political assessment in future.
“We have to understand these changes carefully. Political reading cannot go wrong like this,” he said.
