New Delhi: The Congress said Tuesday that Opposition MPs, including its own leaders, have outshone their government counterparts in representing India on the international stage as members of multi-party delegations visiting various countries to make India’s case on the Pahalgam terror attack and Operation Sindoor.
The Congress’s praise comes just days after the party clashed with the government over exclusion of names proposed by Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi and party president Mallikarjun Kharge from the delegations.
The party appeared particularly upset with the government picking Shashi Tharoor, whose relation with the party has soured. It had even dismissed the move to send delegations as a “diversionary tactic of the government”.
Addressing a press conference Tuesday, Congress media and publicity department chairperson Pawan Khera emphasised on the need for a clear comparison between how the Opposition and ruling party MPs have been conducting themselves as members of the seven delegations.
“There are some people going to tourist-attraction spots, some meeting the diaspora. Look at how Congress and Opposition MPs are presenting India’s case while a ruling party MP is busy making poisonous posts on social media, attacking the Congress. It seems lost on him that the idea was to attack Pakistan and not the Opposition. Opposition MPs have been more effective than the government in putting forward, in protecting the interests of India,” Khera said.
While Khera did not take any names, he seemed to target BJP MP Nishikant Dubey, who is currently in Kuwait as member of one of the delegations. Even as he travels, Dubey has been posting statements on social media attacking the Congress and Rahul Gandhi over various issues.
‘Everything, including foreign and defence policy, has been outsourced to trolls. This government is run by trolls, operated by trolls, inspired by trolls and the results are for all to see,” Khera added.
Responding to Khera’s remarks, Dubey made a fresh post Tuesday, saying: “Explain to your leader Rahul Gandhi. Is he not following your party line? Or has your agenda of opposing Modi taken the form of opposing India?
“This is India’s new agenda. If terrorists kill our people, we will also kill them. We will not differentiate between terrorists and the Pakistan Army. Similarly, if your leaders say something wrong, we will point out your mistake with evidence. You keep quiet, we will also keep quiet.”
Earlier this month, Kharge and Gandhi had proposed the names of Congress leaders Anand Sharma, Gaurav Gogoi, Syed Naseer Hussain, and Amarinder Singh Raja Warring for the delegations following a call from Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju.
Apart from Sharma, the government overlooked the other names. It picked Tharoor, Manish Tewari, Salman Khurshid and Amar Singh instead, drawing criticism from the Congress. The Congress also suggested that Tharoor should have sought concurrence of the party leadership before accepting the government’s invitation. However, it did not bar the leaders picked by the government to head out as members of the delegations.
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)
Also Read: In naming Gaurav Gogoi as its state chief, Congress rolls the dice in Himanta’s Assam
