Congress leader Sandeep Dikshit on Sunday hit out at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Prime Minister Narendra Modi over Centre not accepting the names given by his party for multi-party delegation, saying that their problem is that they engage in "dividing others" in every sphere.
He added that it was the prerogative of the concerned political party to choose its representative for such committees.
"The problem with the BJP and PM Modi is that they try to divide others everywhere. I have been a member of parliament for 10 years, and I can tell you that it is the party that chooses its representatives when such committees are formed," Dikshit said while speaking to a news agency.
He suggested that the Centre should have spoken to Congress if it had a preference already.
"If you (central government) have a preference on who to send, you should speak about it to the respective party. Otherwise, you say that only you will decide. It is not like this country has only two or three faces," Dikshit added.
This comes after the central government tasked Shashi Tharoor to lead one of the seven delegations of a project for India's continued fight against cross-border terrorism. Tharoor stated that he will diligently fulfil his assigned responsibilities, emphasising that while the party leadership is entitled to its opinions, his commitment remains steadfast.
Earlier, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh also criticised the government for not accepting all the names nominated by his party, and said that this was "dishonest on the government's part."
Congress on Saturday night found fault with the government over rejection of three of the four names suggested by the party for a delegation headed to various countries to campaign against Pakistan but said it will not prevent four other party leaders chosen by the dispensation from being part of the exercise.
In a statement, Congress General Secretary (Communications) Jairam Ramesh said, "most regrettably" only one of the four names suggested by the party leadership has been included in the delegation.
While senior leader Anand Sharma found space in one of the seven delegations, the government did not accept the nominations of Gaurav Gogoi, Syed Naseer Hussain and Raja Brar. "This proves the complete insincerity of the Modi Govt and shows the cheap political games it always plays on serious national issues," he said.
The government has also chosen four Congress leaders, whose names were not forwarded by the party, as part of the delegations and it included Shashi Tharoor, Salman Khurshid, Manish Tewari and Amar Singh.
Congress MP Manickam Tagore alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had sidelined the Opposition, and prior to 2014, Prime Ministers upheld Parliamentary dignity by consulting the Leader of Opposition for national delegations.
The all-party 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.
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