MPs Selected for Global Outreach as Shashi Tharoor’s Role Triggers Controversy

Shashi Tharoor: The Centre on Saturday made public the names of MPs who will go abroad to capitals and spread India's position on Operation Sindoor worldwide, but the naming of senior Congress parliamentarians, especially Shashi Tharoor, which seemed to go over the head of the party's nomination, created a controversy.

The Union parliament affairs ministry announced in the morning that Tharoor will lead the seven delegations, Bharatiya Janata Party leaders Ravi Shankar Prasad and Baijayant 'Jay' Panda; Janata Dal (United) leader Sanjay Jha, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam's Kanimozhi Karunanidhi, Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) leader Supriya Sule, and Shiv Sena leader Shrikant Shinde.

But Tharoor's inclusion triggered a controversy as soon as the Congress announced it did not nominate the Thiruvananthapuram MP as one of its four picks for the government.

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“The 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,” the ministry said in a statement.

In the evening, the government published the names of all 59 individuals – including legislators and former ambassadors – who will make up the seven missions worldwide.

The Congress stated that parliamentary affairs minister Kiren Rijiju called party chief Mallikarjun Kharge on Friday morning, and by lunchtime, Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi replied with four names -- former minister Anand Sharma, Congress's deputy leader in the Lok Sabha Gaurav Gogoi, Rajya Sabha MP Syed Naseer Hussain, and Lok Sabha MP Raja Brar.

But the final list announced by Rijiju on Saturday evening did not mention Gogoi, Hussain or Brar. Instead, three former Union ministers Tharoor, Manish Tewari and Salman Khurshid, and Fatehgarh MP Amar Singh – who were not party-nominated – were selected. Functionaries privy to the issue revealed that Khurshid was not likely to leave.

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Tharoor, a former UN diplomat and former minister of state for external affairs, accepted the government’s invitation. “I am honoured by the invitation of the government of India to lead an all-party delegation to five key capitals, to present our nation’s point of view on recent events. When national interest is involved, and my services are required, I will not be found wanting. Jai Hind!” the Thiruvananthapuram MP said.

But the Congress appeared displeased. “There is a difference between being in the Congress and of the Congress…the Congress is like the mighty Ganga, which has many tributaries… Some of them dry up and some get polluted,” said senior leader Jairam Ramesh.

When asked if the party will take punitive action against Tharoor, Ramesh said it was “too far-fetched”. “The government cannot include names of MPs without consulting the party…Asking for four names, giving four names, and announcing another name is dishonest on the government’s part,” he added.

Tharoor didn’t respond to the comments. The BJP hit back. “No one can deny Shashi Tharoor’s eloquence, his long experience as a UN official, and his deep insights on matters of foreign policy. So why has the Congress — and Rahul Gandhi in particular — chosen not to nominate him?” asked BJP’s IT cell chief Amit Malviya.

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