AAP absent as INDIA bloc seeks special session on Op Sindoor

The INDIA bloc on Tuesday got its act together as 16 political parties led by the Congress in a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi demanded a special session of Parliament on the Pahalgam terror attack and the subsequent events, including Operation Sindoor.

INDIA bloc leaders, including Congress communications chief Jairam Ramesh, Lok Sabha MP Deepender Singh Hooda, TMC parliamentary party leader in the Rajya Sabha Derek O’Brien, RJD Rajya Sabha MP Manoj Kumar Jha, Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut and SP Rajya Sabha MP Ram Gopal Yadav, held a nearly 40-minute meeting here. In a joint press conference after the meeting, the bloc leaders announced that they had signed a letter addressed to the PM, raising the demand for a special Parliament session.

AAP remained absent from the meeting, with the bloc’s leaders saying that it would send a separate letter to the PM by tomorrow evening, while CPI general secretary D Raja said he was “not aware” of the meeting, although the party remains signatory to the letter.

Additionally, Sharad Pawar was also not among the Opposition parties demanding a special session, since he had on May 12 said a Parliament session might not be the right forum to discuss national security issues. The bloc’s leaders said the talks would be held with Pawar on the matter.

After the closed-door meeting, O’Brien told reporters that the top leaders from the Congress, SP, TMC, DMK, Shiv Sena (UBT), RJD, J&K NC, CPM, IUML, CPI, Revolutionary Socialist Party, JMM, Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK), Kerala Congress, MDMK and Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) Liberation had signed the letter.

He added the Leaders of the Opposition in the two Houses — Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge; TMC's Abhishek Banerjee; SP president Akhilesh Yadav; and Congress MPs Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and KC Venugopal — had already signed the letter. He also said in a couple of days, the rest of the Opposition MPs in both the Houses would sign the letter.

The Opposition parties have been separately demanding a special session since the terror attack in J&K. The demand was also raised at an all-party meeting held to inform the lawmakers about Operation Sindoor.

The Congress insiders said it was Rahul who wanted the INDIA bloc to raise the demand together. He himself reached out to Akhilesh, Abhishek Banerjee, TR Balu and Aditya Thackeray, they said.

O’Brien also said the letter talks about Poonch, Uri and Rajouri — the areas affected due to Pakistan’s shelling recently. He said the motive behind writing the letter was to make the PM comprehend the seriousness of the issue.

Congress MP Hooda said following India's operation against the terror, as the country was putting its views forward before the world, it should do a similar thing inside Parliament.

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut said, "This is not a normal letter. The Opposition is the voice of the public. We want a special session to be called to discuss whatever has happened in the country so far."

He said if a ceasefire was called on the suggestion of US President Donald Trump, then why was not a special session held even after repeated requests from the Opposition? "Should we go to President Trump for a special session?" he said.

SP MP Ram Gopal Yadav also said the country wanted to know which nations supported it.

"Not even a single nation came out in support of India. This is worrisome. We were unsuccessful on the diplomatic front... The public feels that we were forced into a truce," he said.