New Delhi: Leaders of the INDIA bloc held a virtual meeting Saturday to plan their strategy for the upcoming Monsoon Session of Parliament, vowing to corner the Modi government over the Pahalgam terror attack and the sudden halt of Operation Sindoor.
The meeting, which included representatives from 24 opposition parties, was attended by top Congress leaders, including party president Mallikarjun Kharge, Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, and parliamentary party chairperson Sonia Gandhi.
It was the first meeting of the INDIA bloc in more than a year, albeit a virtual one. The alliance leaders last met at Kharge’s residence on 5 June 2024, a day after the Lok Sabha election results were announced.
Apart from the Aam Aadmi Party, which has pulled out of the alliance, leaders of all other members of the coalition including Trinamool Congress national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee attended and spoke in the meeting which lasted nearly two hours.
Sources who attended the meeting said that, in his remarks, Rahul said that the Pahalgam terror attack and the “sudden halt” of the military operations against Pakistan were major issues that the Opposition must raise unitedly in Parliament.
Leaders, including Rahul, also referred to US President Donald Trump’s latest claim that five fighter jets were shot down during Operation Sindoor and underlined the need to question Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s silence on the matter.
Sources close to Banerjee told ThePrint that the Trinamool leader questioned the one-year extension given to Intelligence Bureau chief Tapan Deka despite Jammu and Kashmir Lt Governor Manoj Sinha admitting that intel failure led to the 22 April attack in Pahalgam resulting in the deaths of 26 people.
The TMC national general secretary, who was part of a multi-party delegation dispatched by the Centre to various countries to present India’s case against Pakistan-sponsored terrorism, is also learnt to have questioned the objectives achieved by the initiative.
“How many countries came in our support? Instead of briefing our own people, MPs were sent to brief people and relevant stakeholders of other countries,” Banerjee is learnt to have said.
Sources said CPI general secretary D.Raja emphasised on the need for the INDIA bloc parties to act in a more coordinated fashion and avoid bickering in public. His suggestion came against the backdrop of the controversy sparked by Rahul Gandhi’s remarks that he fights both the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh ideologically.
CPI(M) general secretary M.A.Baby, who had termed Rahul’s statement as deeply insulting, also attended the meeting but did not raise the matter, multiple leaders, who were in attendance, said.
CPI(ML) general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya said there was a near consensus on the need to put the Modi government in the dock on the subject of foreign policy and India’s “complete isolation”.
“Many leaders expressed the need for holding a physical meeting of the alliance soon. It is likely that the meeting will be held during the Monsoon Session itself as it will last one entire month,” Dipankar said after the end of the meeting.
Congress general secretary (organisation) K.C. Venugopal said that the meeting would be held in August.
Later, Congress Rajya Sabha Deputy Leader Pramod Tiwari told reporters that the Opposition also agreed to question the government’s position on the continuing Israeli assault against Gaza.
Among other issues that the Opposition resolved to raise in the Parliament include the demand for restoration of statehood to Jammu and Kashmir and the Special Intensive Revision in Bihar.
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah also attended the meeting. The other CM present there was Jharkhand’s Hemant Soren. The Samajwadi Party was represented by Ramgopal Yadav, while Tiruchi Siva of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam also spoke at the meeting.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
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