INDIA bloc to corner govt on Pahalgam attack, Op Sindoor

The Congress-led opposition INDIA bloc on Saturday decided to raise several key national security and foreign policy issues during the upcoming monsoon session of Parliament, including the Pahalgam terror attack, Operation Sindoor, the subsequent ceasefire with Pakistan and the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in poll-bound Bihar.

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The Congress has also demanded that Prime Minister Narendra Modi make a statement in Parliament in response to US President Donald Trump’s assertion that five jets were downed during skirmishes between India and Pakistan following India’s Operation Sindoor offensive in the aftermath of the Pahalgam attack.

During a virtual meeting of the INDIA alliance, attended by 24 parties, it was unanimously agreed that these issues would be raised in Parliament when the session begins on July 21. The alliance stressed that the Prime Minister must be present during any discussion on the Pahalgam attack and Operation Sindoor.

Congress Rajya Sabha MP and Deputy Leader of the Opposition Pramod Tiwari told mediapersons after the meeting that the alliance would also seek the Centre’s response to Trump’s claim that he mediated the ceasefire by offering trade deals to both India and Pakistan.

In addition, the INDIA bloc resolved to question the government on what it called the “failure” of India’s foreign policy on several fronts, including Gaza, Israel and China. Some leaders also called for a discussion on the Ahmedabad air crash.

However, sources said the issue of seeking legislation for granting statehood to Jammu & Kashmir and including Ladakh under the Sixth Schedule was not raised during the meeting, despite earlier letters on the matter jointly written by Rahul Gandhi and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge to the PM.

Among the key leaders who attended the meeting were Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Rahul, Kharge, National Conference leader and J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, Jharkhand CM and JMM leader Hemant Soren, NCP-Sharad Pawar faction chief Sharad Pawar, Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray, TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, SP’s Ram Gopal Yadav, CPI’s D Raja, DMK’s Tiruchi Siva, CPM secretary general MA Baby and CPI(ML)’s Dipankar Bhattacharya.

At the meeting, the CPM general secretary, without naming Rahul Gandhi, flagged his remarks made in Kerala on Friday where he equated the RSS with the CPM, saying such statements send the wrong message.

The Opposition said if the notice for the removal of Justice Yashwant Varma is brought during the monsoon session — as suggested by government statements — it will insist on expediting the long-pending motion in the Rajya Sabha for the removal of Justice Shekhar Yadav of the Allahabad High Court, which has been pending for eight months.