Abhishek Banerjee to represent TMC in all-party delegation on Op Sindoor

Trinamool Congress (TMC) national general-secretary and Lok Sabha MP Abhishek Banerjee will represent the party in the multi-party delegations that would visit different countries to convey India's stand post Operation Sindoor, the party announced on Tuesday.

The decision came after Parliamentary affairs minister Kiren Rijiju called TMC supremo and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, a source said.

"Smt Mamata Banerjee nominates Shri Abhishek Banerjee to represent us in the all-party delegation for India’s global stand against terrorism. His voice will echo India’s commitment to peace, justice and global cooperation," the party said in a post on X.

The source claimed Rijiju called Mamata Banerjee to "pacify" her and seek her suggestions for a representative to the multi-party delegations from her party.

Earlier, the Centre named TMC MP and former India cricketer Yusuf Pathan as a member of one of the seven diplomatic delegations that will travel to different foreign countries to put across India's stand on tackling terrorism against the backdrop of Operation Sindoor. However, Yusuf later opted out.

On Monday, both Mamata Banerjee and Abhishek Banerjee said the Centre should not decide who the party nominates for the multi-party delegations.

The Centre on Sunday announced the names of the members of the seven delegations, comprising political leaders, parliamentarians and former ministers from various parties.

The seven delegations are being led by Baijayant Panda and Ravi Shankar Prasad (both BJP), Sanjay Kumar Jha (JD-U), Shrikant Shinde (Shiv Sena), Shashi Tharoor (Congress), Kanimozhi (DMK) and Supriya Sule (NCP-SP).

The delegations will visit 32 countries and the EU headquarters in Brussels, Belgium.