Delhi blast exposed lapses in internal security: Cong

The Congress on Wednesday held Home Minister Amit Shah accountable for what it termed a “clear security failure” leading to the deadly explosion near Delhi’s Red Fort.Congress general secretary and Lok Sabha MP KC Venugopal said the incident had exposed lapses in the country’s internal security and reiterated the Opposition’s demand for Shah’s resignation. “The Home Minister must take moral responsibility. The government owes the people of India a full and transparent inquiry into what went wrong,” Venugopal said, urging the Centre to constitute an independent probe.

Taking aim at Shah’s earlier claim in Parliament that “no terror attacks happen in mainland India”, Venugopal said such statements had led to complacency. “In the last session, the Home Minister boasted that India was free from terror attacks. We had warned then that such overconfidence was dangerous. And now, this tragic incident has happened in the national capital itself,” he said.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has now taken over the case from the Delhi Police after the Ministry of Home Affairs formally handed it over, citing a terror link. Sources said the explosion appears to be the handiwork of a Jaish-e-Mohammad module that Indian agencies had recently unearthed.

Senior Congress leader Sandeep Dikshit also questioned the government’s handling of national security, saying that repeated lapses called for accountability. “When casualties occur, questions must be asked of those in power. The NIA is a capable institution, but it must not only investigate the attack, it should also examine why such incidents are increasing,” he said.

Former Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot described the Red Fort blast as “deeply unfortunate” and urged the Centre to ensure a transparent probe. “People deserve to know who is behind this act. The truth must come out,” Gehlot told mediapersons.

Meanwhile, Communist Party of India MP Binoy Viswam blamed the BJP-led government for failing to prevent yet another terror strike. Drawing parallels with the recent Pahalgam attack, he said, “A blast in the national capital shows how fragile our security system has become. The government’s foremost duty is to protect its citizens, and on that front, it has clearly failed.”

Former Home Minister P Chidambaram on Wednesday talked of “home-grown terrorists” and said the government’s discreet silence is because it knows about them. Although he did not talk of the Delhi blast, he questioned why and under what circumstances were Indian citizens turning into terrorists.