As Congress fights Modi govt in Parliament, internal strife erupts

Amid the Congress’ repeated attacks on Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led NDA government over the Pahalgam terror attack and its aftermath in the Parliament, the internal strife within the party is visible with another senior leader Manish Tewari coming out publicly and expressing anguish for being benched during the debate on the issue.

Tewari, who is an MP from Chandigarh, along with another party colleague and MP Shashi Tharoor did not participate in the discussion on the Pahalgam attack and Operation Sindoor. Both leaders were part of overseas delegations sent by the government to put forth India’s view on terrorism emanating from Pakistan, and the military response to the brutal terrorist attack in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir.

Former Union Minister Tewari today shared a screenshot of a news report on why he and Tharoor were benched for a debate. The post on X was captioned with the evergreen patriotic song from Bollywood classic ‘Purab Aur Pachhim’: "Hai preet jahaan ki reet sada, main geet wahaan ke gaata hoon, Bharat ka rehne waala hoon, Bharat ki baat sunata hoon. Jai Hind," Tewari wrote.

Later, speaking to the reporters outside the Parliament, Tewari said, "There is a saying in English, 'If you don't understand my silence, you will never understand my words'."

He was also seen standing at the Parliament steps when Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi arrived, and was seen engaging in conversation with her.

Party insiders said that Tewari had reached out to the top brass for allowing him to participate in the debate, however his request was turned down. The insiders said the party wants to completely corner the PM Modi-led government over the Pahalgam attack and the following events, including the ceasefire announced by US President Donald Trump.

The sources added that the party was apprehensive that the MPs part of the Indian delegations that went abroad may not mount aggressive attack on the government as it wants them to. As the Operation Sindoor debate began yesterday, the Congress list of speakers raised tall questions. However, the list didn’t include the name of Tharoor, since the sources said he denied to participate in the debate.

When asked about his decision, Tharoor responded to reporters with two words, “maunvrat, maunvrat".

Sources said that Tharoor had refused to toe the party line during the debate and said he would not contradict himself "for the sake of party messaging".

There has been unease in relations between Congress leadership and Tharoor over his public comments in the aftermath of the Pahalgam terror attack and India's counterstrike Operation Sindoor. The Congress believes that Tharoor’s remarks were tilted in favour of the Modi government.