1st week washed out, Parliament to take up Pahalgam, Op Sindoor from July 28

After a wasted first week of the monsoon session that commenced on July 21, Parliament is expected to work smoothly from the next week with the government and Opposition reaching an agreement to participate in the debate on the Pahalgam terror attack and Operation Sindoor.

The agreement was reached at a meeting of the Business Advisory Committee of the Lok Sabha called by Speaker Om Birla.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju later said the government had agreed to the Opposition demand of discussing the Pahalgam attack and Operation Sindoor. He said the Lok Sabha would discuss the matter from July 28 for 16 hours and the Rajya Sabha from July 29 for 16 hours.

The government said the discussion would not be taken up under any specified rules as the issue concerned national security and was beyond party politics. "This will be a special discussion as has been held on eight occasions in the past," Rijiju said, adding that the Opposition had asked for discussion under certain rules but a special discussion had been agreed on.

The Congress-led Opposition had demanded a discussion under rule 184 in the Lok Sabha and rule 167 in the Rajya Sabha. These rules entail voting.

The government further stayed tight-lipped about whether Prime Minister Narendra Modi will speak, intervene or reply to the debate.

"Just as it is the prerogative of the Opposition to name the lead speaker, it is the government's prerogative in a democracy to decide who will reply to the debate," Rijiju said. He said the government hoped the Opposition would honour the agreement reached today to run the House from Monday.

On the Opposition's demand to debate special intensive revision of voter rolls in election-bound Bihar, Rijiju said "all issues cannot be taken up together”.