By Dr. Gyan Pathak
India’s resolve against terrorism is not at all questionable, as the people of India, including the political parties, have already demonstrated it in the aftermath of Pahalgam terror attack since April 22, and after the launch of Operation Sindoor on May 7. Now, the ruling establishment has constituted seven “all-party delegations” for ‘representing united front’ which “will soon engage key nations under Operation Sindoor reflecting India’s collective resolve against terrorism. Nevertheless, the compositions of the groups show utter lack of “all-party” which may adversely impact the effectiveness of this outreach programme.
It has already sparked controversies. A general discontent within opposition has already surfaced over the composition of the groups, specially and Congress and the TMC. Congress leader Shashi Tharoor is in one of the groups but in individual capacity, since his name was not sent by the party. Tharoor is thus not the Congress representative in the delegation though he is a Congress MP and leader.
TMC leader Yusuf Pathan was also included in one of the groups but he has withdrawn his name from the “all-party” delegation. TMC has said that Yusuf’s name was included without consulting the party. Trinamool is the only party so far to withdraw its MP from the delegation.
These two incidents show that the opposition political parties believe PM Narendra Modi is playing his political card in the name of the nation first, but getting opposition leaders to play his politics. Such a feeling has made political parties in general, and the Congress and TMC in particular, uneasy in playing their own political cards.
Dr Shashi Tharoor MP, INC will be leader of group 5. In the present context, he can’t be treated as representing the Congress, but only an individual, since Congress had objected on his name on the ground that the had not sent his name to the government. Congress has also not categorically said that Dr Tharoor would be representative of their party.
There are 9 members in the group-5. Three members are from BJP, and three from BJP’s allies – 1 from LJP (Ram Vilas), 1 from TDP, and 1 from Shiv Sena. It means six members out of 9 are from ruling establishment. One member in this group is in individual capacity, and one member is from JMM.
Does the group-5 then show its “all-party” character? Decidedly not. This group does not even include the Congress’s representative, which is chief opposition political party in the country. Ruling establishment has just humiliated Congress by choosing a congress leader whose name was not sent by the Congress. Group-5 will be visiting USA, Panama, Guyana, Brazil, and Colombia.
Now come to the group-3, which included TMC MP Yusuf Pathan, who has withdrawn his name, since his name was included without consulting the party. TMC has felt humiliated. This group has also 9 members. It is scheduled to visit Indonesia, Malaysia, Republic of Korea, Japan, and Singapore. After withdrawal, there are 8 members, and from the opposition only one member is from CPI(M). Two members are in individual capacity. However, 4 members are from the BJP and one member is from its ally JD(U). This group has also lost all party character.
Group-1 will be visiting Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Algeria. AIMIM is the only political party from the opposition whose representative will be in it. Four members out of 8 are from BJP, one is nominated MP, and two are in individual capacity.
Group-2 will visit UK, France, Germany, EU, Italy, and Denmark. This group has been composed of 8 members – 2 from BJP, one from its ally, one is nominated. Two members are included in individual capacity. From opposition, this group has two members – one from Congress and one from Shiv Sena (UBT).
Group 4 will visit UAE, Liberia, Democratic Republic of Congo, and Sierra Leone. Out of 8 members in this group, 3 are from BJP, while its ally Shiv Sena will be leading. Two members are included in individual capacity. From the opposition camp, there are only two members – one from IUML and one from BJD.
Group-6 will visit Spain, Greece, Slovenia, Latvia, and Russia. This group, surprisingly, has only one member out of 8. Two members are in individual capacity. The rest are from the opposition – one from DMK, one from SP, one from NC, one from RJD, and one from AAP. This is the only group that seem to represent “all-party” upto some extent.
Group-7 will visit Egypt, Qatar, Ethiopia, and South Africa. There are 9 members in this group out of them 2 are from BJP and one from its ally TDP. Three members are there in individual capacity. One member is from NCP(SCP), one from AAP and one from Congress.
The compositions of the groups are thus not satisfactory, since barring one, all the groups lose its “all-party” character. How can then Modi government proposes to “represent united front” of all political parties to show “collective resolve against terrorism” to the world?
If the compositions of the groups are not changed before these are sent to their destinations, the host countries may derive differing meaning out of this, which may prove costly for the country. (IPA Service)
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