New Delhi: The Congress on Monday dismissed as an “absolute lie” Union minister Kiren Rijiju’s reported assertion that the government did not ask for names for the all-party diplomatic delegations going abroad, and said it was “cheap politics” to not get the names it selected cleared with the opposition party.
Taking a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said the same prime minister who had abused the Congress publicly in countries such as Australia, the US, South Korea and China, was taking the help of the opposition party in these delegations.
“Why didn’t the prime minister pick up the phone and speak to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi? Why didn’t he have the courtesy to do that? The fact is that our narrative has been punctured and continues to get punctured because of the politics of polarisation in the country,” Ramesh told PTI.
Later, in a post on X, Ramesh said, “After 11 years of abusing and defaming the Opposition — especially the Congress — the prime minister is now forced to send all-party delegations overseas. The truth is that the BJP’s poisonous politics at home has cost us hugely abroad. Our sanctimonious diplomacy has fallen flat and India is back to being hyphenated with Pakistan.”
“That is the real ‘new normal’,” he added.
The “self-styled Vishwaguru’s balloon”, which was full of hot air, has been well and truly punctured, Ramesh said.
“It is a reflection of his own inadequacies — now completely exposed — that the prime minister is now turning towards bipartisanship. But this is only momentary, hypocritical, and opportunistic,” he said.
On Saturday, the Congress said it was asked by the government to submit the names of four leaders for the all-party delegations to be sent abroad to explain India’s stance on Pakistan-backed terrorism. It nominated Anand Sharma, Gaurav Gogoi, Syed Naseer Hussain, and Amrinder Singh Raja Warring.
Of the four, only Sharma has been included in the seven delegations that will be visiting various countries.
Four Congress leaders — Shashi Tharoor, Manish Tewari, Amar Singh and Salman Khurshid — who were not part of the list sent by the Congress have been included in the delegations.
Asked about Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Rijiju’s reported remarks that the government never asked the Congress for names, Ramesh said to PTI, “That is a lie — LIE — absolute lie. He had a conversation in the morning of May 16 with the Congress president and Mr Rahul Gandhi and in pursuance of that conversation the latter wrote to Mr Rijiju suggesting four names.”
“At no point of time, the Modi government did the Congress the courtesy of saying that, ‘look these are the four names we have selected, what do you have to say about them’,” he added.
Ramesh also accused the BJP and the prime minister of having played “cheap politics” on the issue.
“His (Modi’s) image has taken a beating, he is desperate in changing the narrative once again. Our demand is that a prime minister-chaired all-party meeting be held and a special session (of Parliament) be called to reiterate the resolution of February 1994 and give it fresh meaning, as well as take the nation into confidence,” the Congress leader said.
He claimed that while India made gains through Operation Sindoor, diplomatically it had been hurt as the narrative changed.
“We have to change the momentum for India. The Congress has always said unity and solidarity is very important. ‘Ek Desh, Ek Sandesh’ is very important to deal with terrorism,” he said.
Taking a swipe at the BJP, he said, however, it was not “Ek Desh, Ek Sandesh” for “polarisation and the poison-filled nationalism that the BJP propagates”.
On Rijiju’s reported remarks that the government did not go by the Congress’ internal dynamics in picking members for the delegations, Ramesh said, “No question of internal dynamics. In 2008, Dr Manmohan Singh and his advisors consulted all political parties, that is how the delegations were sent. In the case of Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee in the 1990s, he was the leader of opposition and PV Narasimha Rao was the prime minister, so they talked to each other.”
Accusing the BJP of spreading hate and bigotry, Ramesh said, “We cannot have one narrative outside and another inside. What is the narrative going out of India? — Nationalism based on prejudice, nationalism based on bigotry and nationalism based on hate, poison and communal tensions. Is this the message we want to sent to the world?”
On the TMC’s criticism of the selection of MPs for the delegations, Ramesh said he would not comment on other parties but the Congress’ intention was to participate in these delegations.
“Out of the four names we had suggested, the government selected only one — a Congress leader who has had extensive experience in foreign affairs and then they added four other names which they had not cleared with the Congress party. That was unfair on the part of the BJP and was cheap politics,” Ramesh said.
The four leaders selected by the government are all experienced and one of them is a former external affairs minister, and they are very articulate and they are participating in the delegations, he said.
“These are a damage control delegations. After 2008, delegations were sent abroad but at that time, everybody had condemned Pakistan’s cross border terrorism but today we are back to being hyphenated with Pakistan,” he added.
