Kolkata, May 19 (UNI) West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee on Monday reiterated that she was ready to depute the party's representative to the 'Operation Sindoor' outreach mission to various nations, "if the request for such a programme comes to us directly."
"The matter is not that nobody from Trinamool is participating in the foreign delegation. Let us be very clear. Nowadays, they don't inform the mother party, but only the parliamentary party. However, the parliamentary party only works for the Parliament session. They cannot make policy decisions. No request came to us. If the request comes to us, of course, we can consider it. We are totally in favour of the country's best interests," Banerjee told reporters at Dum Dum Airport.
"I said earlier as well that in the case of External Affairs, we always supported the Central government's policy. If anything is special, we will think about it, but not now," the TMC chairperson said.
"At present, we are supporting the Central government's views and actions. They cannot decide the member's name on their own. It is not their choice but of the party. If they request me to send someone, we will decide the name and will tell them, " the Chief Minister said.
The TMC on Sunday withdrew its party MP Yusuf Pathan from the outreach mission since his name was listed by the Union government "without consulting the party".
"It is wrong to say that we are boycotting or not going. They need to inform the party. The parliamentary party discusses bills in Parliament. It takes decisions regarding Parliament, and that too, after consulting the party. I am the chairperson of the parliamentary party in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. However, we are never informed. We will definitely send a representative if they inform us. Why wouldn’t we? There is no point of controversy here. We are fully with the government," the Bengal CM reiterated.
"They cannot decide the name. If they request the mother party, the party will decide the name. This is customary. "We are totally with the Centre regarding the external affairs policy. We are fully supporting them and have no hesitation in saying that," Banerjee, who left for the north Bengal tour told reporters at Dum Dum Airport.
Earlier in the day party MP from Diamond Harbour and TMC national general secretary Abhishekh Banerjee said it was unacceptable that the Centre has unilaterally named party MP to represent in the outreach mission.
" When it comes to combating terrorism, safeguarding India's sovereignty, and protecting national interests, we stand with the Central Govt," the TMC MP said. However, the Centre must demonstrate good intent by initiating broader consultations, rather than unilaterally deciding which Trinamool Congress leader will be part of the all-party delegation visiting key partner countries as part of India’s global outreach against terrorism," Banerjee, who is also the nephew of the Chief Minister, said before leaving for New Delhi.
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