TMC pulls out Yusuf Pathan from global outreach: ‘How can govt decide our face’

Speaking to reporters at the Kolkata airport on Monday, West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC chairperson Mamata Banerjee said, “They (Centre) cannot decide the name (of the TMC representative) on their own. If they request the mother party, the party will decide the name. This is customary and is the system. We are totally with the Centre regarding the foreign policy,” adding that “If they request me to send someone’s name, we will decide it and tell them”.

Mamata said, “Nowadays, they (Centre) don’t inform the mother party, but only the parliamentary party. However, the parliamentary party only works for the Parliament session, it cannot take policy decisions. No requests came to us. If the request comes to us, of course, we can consider it. We are totally in favour of the country’s best interests.”

She also said, “It is wrong to say that we are boycotting or not going. They need to inform the party. The parliamentary party discusses the Bills in Parliament. It takes decisions regarding Parliament, and that too, after consulting with the party. I am the chairperson of the Trinamool Parliamentary Party in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. However, we were never informed.”

Earlier in the day, TMC national general secretary and MP Abhishek Banerjee, while speaking to the media at the airport, said, “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.”

Abhishek said, “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.”

He said, “Whatever decision the Union government takes, which is aimed at combating and curbing terrorism, safeguarding the sovereignty of the nation, and protecting the national interest, we as a party will stand with the Centre shoulder-to-shoulder.”
Abhishek, Mamata’s nephew and TMC’s No. 2, also said, “I am going to Delhi today for a meeting of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on

External Affairs. The party has nominated me to this Committee. The Centre cannot decide unilaterally who will represent which party. They can decide about BJP’s representative. BJP cannot decide the representatives that Congress, Trinamool, DMK, AAP, or SP will send. This has to be decided by the respective leadership of these parties.”

He said the issue of cross-border terrorism should be raised at the global stage. “The world needs to come together and fight collectively against terrorism and join hands against Pakistan. Let the Centre call for a wider deliberation and talk to the Opposition parties to seek the names of their representatives,” he added.

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.

Several 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 Bengal to rally behind the Indian Armed Forces and celebrate Operation Sindoor against Pakistan.

Of the seven delegations, four will be headed by the ruling BJP-led NDA and three by the Opposition leaders. The teams will be headed by the Congress’s Shashi Tharoor, BJP’s Ravi Shankar Prasad and Baijayant Panda, JD(U)’s Sanjay Kumar Jha, DMK’s Kanimozhi, NCP (SP)’s Supriya Sule and Shiv Sena’s Shrikant Eknath Shinde.

Yusuf was named as a member of the delegation led by Jha, which is headed to Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia, the country with the largest Muslim population. Among its other members are the Congress’s Salman Khurshid, a former External Affairs Minister, BJP MP Aparajita Sarangi and CPM MP John Brittas.