Yusuf Pathan Excluded from Foreign Delegation Tour; Mamata Banerjee Makes Key Decision

Former cricketer and Trinamool Congress MP Yusuf Pathan, who was earlier named as part of India’s all-party parliamentary delegation to foreign countries, has now been dropped from the list following a key decision by West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief Mamata Banerjee.

The central government had recently announced the formation of seven all-party delegations, comprising 51 Members of Parliament, tasked with visiting 32 countries and the European Union headquarters in Brussels. The purpose of these delegations is to brief international governments about Operation Sindoor and to highlight Pakistan's alleged role in promoting cross-border terrorism, amid the current tensions between India and Pakistan.

Initially, Yusuf Pathan was among those named in the delegation. Pathan, a first-time MP from West Bengal’s Baharampur constituency, had secured a significant victory in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections by defeating senior Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury by over 85,000 votes. Although Pathan hails from Vadodara, Gujarat, he contested and won on a TMC ticket from Bengal.

However, the Trinamool Congress has now announced that none of its MPs, including Yusuf Pathan, will participate in the foreign delegations. The decision appears to be a political statement by Mamata Banerjee, who has been critical of the central government’s foreign policy moves in the past. No official reason has been provided for the withdrawal, but party insiders suggest it is part of TMC’s effort to distance itself from BJP-led initiatives.

The delegation teams include prominent names across party lines, such as BJP’s Ravi Shankar Prasad and Baijayant Panda, Congress leader Shashi Tharoor, JDU’s Sanjay Kumar, DMK’s Kanimozhi, NCP (Sharad Pawar faction) leader Supriya Sule, and Shiv Sena’s Shrikant Shinde. Former diplomats are also expected to accompany the delegations. Each group will consist of 7 to 8 members and will act as India’s voice abroad in the wake of ongoing geopolitical challenges.