Kolkata, May 19 (IANS) The Centre’s action of selecting and including Yusuf Pathan, the cricketer-turned-politician and Lok Sabha member from Baharampur constituency of West Bengal, in the multi-party delegation on Operation Sindoor without consulting Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, prompted Trinamool Congress to withdraw his name.

Officially, as of now, nothing has been stated on the reasons that prompted the decision.

However, an insider within the party said that since Trinamool Congress has its own separate identity and internal discipline, the leadership could not accept the BJP’s or the Union government’s “one-sided selection” of a party MP as a member of the multi-party delegation.

“Mamata Banerjee was not informed about Pathan’s selection as a member of the delegation in advance. The matter was also not officially communicated to the party leadership. Instead, the Lok Sabha member concerned was contacted directly for his passport details. Neither the BJP nor the Union government can unilaterally decide on who will represent Trinamool Congress in any multi-party delegation,” said a senior leader of the party who did not wish to be named.

Officially, the version of Trinamool Congress as stated by the leader of Trinamool Congress’ Parliamentary team in Rajya Sabha, Derek O’Brien, is that although the party leadership is wholeheartedly behind any initiative by the Union government adopted for national interest, it wants international diplomacy to be handled by the Centre alone.

Incidentally, Trinamool Congress leadership, including the Chief Minister, had been maintaining an extremely cautious stand in giving reactions on Operation Sindoor, through which the Indian armed forces crushed several terror bases in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

Even the Chief Minister himself avoids making comments on the matter while interacting with the media persons. Even once, when the veteran party Lok Sabha member Saugatata Roy last week made some loose comments on Operation Sindoor, the party indirectly censored him and issued a statement disapproving of Roy’s comments on Operation Sindoor. “Let us emphatically state that the statement made by Prof Saugata Roy, MP, is not the opinion of the All India Trinamool Congress,” the statement read.

At the same time, the party leadership issued a strong note of warning to all ranks and files in the party on refraining from any public comment about this nationally sensitive issue, be it on social media or to media persons, or in any public meeting.

–IANS

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