Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP and former Indian cricketer Yusuf Pathan has withdrawn from the all-party parliamentary delegation formed by the Central government to represent India&rsquo;s position on Operation Sindoor to foreign capitals. The TMC remains the only political party to retract its representative from the delegation.
According to senior party leaders, the withdrawal followed objections over the government&rsquo;s decision to include a TMC MP without consulting the party leadership. Media reports revealed that Pathan was approached directly by the government, bypassing formal communication with Trinamool officials.
At Kolkata airport on Monday, TMC national general secretary and Lok Sabha MP Abhishek Banerjee questioned the process followed by the Union government in selecting party representatives.&nbsp;
&ldquo;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. How can the BJP decide which representative Trinamool will send? Trinamool is not boycotting the meeting. Trinamool is the only party which has not politicised the matter of national security,&rdquo; Banerjee told reporters.
Party insiders stated that the decision was also rooted in the view that matters of foreign policy fall exclusively within the Union government&rsquo;s jurisdiction.&nbsp;
A Trinamool leader told a news agency, &ldquo;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.&rdquo;
Pathan had been selected to join one of seven delegations, each comprising leaders from various parties. He was named to the group led by Janata Dal (United) MP Sanjay Kumar Jha, which is scheduled to visit Indonesia, Malaysia, the Republic of Korea, Japan, and Singapore.&nbsp;
Other members of this delegation include BJP MPs Aparajita Sarangi, Brij Lal, Pradan Baruah, and Hemang Joshi; CPI(M) MP John Brittas; Congress leader Salman Khurshid; and former journalist Mohan Kumar.
Trinamool&rsquo;s Lok Sabha floor leader, Sudip Bandyopadhyay, was initially contacted by parliamentary affairs minister Kiren Rijiju regarding participation in the outreach. Bandyopadhyay declined due to health concerns. Despite this, the government proceeded to include Yusuf Pathan&rsquo;s name in the delegation without seeking approval from other party leaders.
Pathan, a first-time parliamentarian, was elected from Baharampur in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, defeating senior Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury.
Meanwhile, the Congress party also raised concerns regarding the composition of the delegations. According to Congress leaders, Kiren Rijiju contacted party president Mallikarjun Kharge on Friday morning. By the afternoon, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi submitted four names: Anand Sharma, Gaurav Gogoi, Syed Naseer Hussain, and Raja Brar.&nbsp;
However, when the final list was made public on Saturday night, Gogoi, Hussain, and Brar were omitted. Instead, the government named former Union ministers Shashi Tharoor, Manish Tewari, and Salman Khurshid, as well as Fatehgarh MP Amar Singh &mdash; none of whom were part of the Congress&rsquo;s proposed list.
While the Congress allowed its leaders to be part of the initiative due to the issue&rsquo;s significance, the party criticised the government&rsquo;s handling of the matter, accusing it of &ldquo;complete insincerity&rdquo; and engaging in &ldquo;cheap political games.&rdquo;&nbsp;
Only Anand Sharma, among the four individuals nominated by the Congress, was included in the final list of delegation members tasked with conveying India&rsquo;s anti-terror message in the aftermath of Operation Sindoor.
Altogether, 51 leaders &mdash; including current MPs and former ministers from multiple political parties &mdash; have been named across seven delegations assigned to travel to various international destinations to advocate India&rsquo;s stance on terrorism following Operation Sindoor.
(With inputs from agencies)
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Trinamool MP Yusuf Pathan withdrew from a global delegation after the Centre named him without party consultation.

TMC's Yusuf Pathan Withdraws From Foreign Delegation

Trinamool MP Yusuf Pathan withdrew from a global delegation after the Centre named him without party consultation.

May 19, 2025 | 12:40 IST