Pahalgam, ceasefire to Bihar SIR: INDIA bloc lines up issues to target Govt, projects unity

Indian Express

4 hours ago

Showcasing unity on the eve of the Parliament's Monsoon Session, the Opposition INDIA bloc on Saturday held a virtual meeting of 24 of its constituents, reaching a consensus on eight major issues that they plan to raise during the month-long session, which include the Pahalgam terror attack, Operation Sindoor, ceasefire announcement by US President Donald Trump, India's foreign policy, and the Election Commission (EC)'s ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in poll-bound Bihar.
These issues will be 'raised in one voice' by the Opposition parties in both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha, the bloc said, hoping that when the Pahalgam attack, Operation Sindoor and related issues are discussed, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be in Parliament to answer various questions.
The Opposition alliance also said it would soon hold a physical meeting of its leaders.
The virtual meeting was attended by Sonia Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul Gandhi, K C Venugopal and Jairam Ramesh of the Congress; Samajwadi Party's Ram Gopal Yadav; TMC's Abhishek Banerjee; Shiv Sena (UBT)'s Uddhav Thackeray and Sanjay Raut; NCP(SP)'s Sharad Pawar and Jayant Patil; National Conference's Omar Abdullah; JMM's Hemant Soren; RJD's Tejashwi Yadav; and DMK's Tiruchi N Siva. The CPI, CPI(M) and
CPI(ML) Liberation were represented by D Raja, M A Baby, and Dipankar Bhattacharya respectively.
Kerala Congress (M) MP Jose K Mani, RSP's N K Premachandran, Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi's Thirumavalavan and IUML's K M Kader Mohideen also attended the meeting.
Addressing the media after the meeting, the Congress's deputy leader in the Rajya Sabha, Pramod Tiwari, said, 'Injustices and failures of this government have affected 140 crore Indians. At the meeting, we strategised to raise these issues during the Monsoon Session. I am happy to say that almost all 24 parties, their leaders took part in the meeting. We have received several suggestions. There are eight issues which were discussed prominently. This doesn't mean that these are our only issues; other issues would also be raised.'
He said 'all parties are on the same page' that the Pahalgam attack is one issue the bloc would focus on since it 'directly affects the self-respect of 140 crore Indians'. 'It is an issue which saw maximum worry. That despite so much time having passed, those who left our sisters widowed, the terrorists have disappeared. Now, there has been a confession that it was an intelligence failure, and that the government couldn't give security there.'
Tiwari said when 'Operation Sindoor is discussed, the ceasefire also has to be discussed and then Mr Trump's claims regarding it 24 times – that he brokered the ceasefire between India and Pakistan by using trade. And our PM has still remained silent'.
The Congress leader said another issue of major concern that the Opposition will raise strongly during the session is the Bihar SIR. 'Under SIR, democracy is being murdered with 'votebandi' done after 'notebandi'… Names are being struck off from the rolls and added based on BJP's preferences by the EC,' he alleged. 'There is a threat to voting rights under this undeclared emergency.'
Another issue flagged by the alliance was the government's 'foreign policy failures', with Tiwari saying that 'The government's foreign policy towards Pakistan and China are worrying'. He added that 'the atrocities in Gaza would also be raised'.
'Some members also raised the issue of delimitation, which we will include in our agenda during the session. The issue of atrocities on SCs, STs, women, minorities is also an important one,' he said, adding that the Ahmedabad plane crash would also be taken up by the Opposition members.
Tiwari side-stepped the question about the AAP skipping the meeting, with AAP leader Sanjay Singh having already said Friday that his party was no longer part of the INDIA bloc.
'We want Parliament to run and the government to answer our questions, reflecting democracy,' said Tiwari.
Sources said during the meeting D Raja obliquely objected to Rahul Gandhi's remarks that he made during a meeting in Kerala's Kottayam Friday that he was 'fighting both the RSS and the CPI(M) ideologically'. Raja was said to have commented that the bloc's leaders should 'have a limit' while criticising each other.
Another source said that Pawar, Uddhav and Ram Gopal Yadav suggested that the bloc's meetings be held periodically and not after such long gaps.
Saturday's meeting was the bloc's first meeting outside Parliament in over a year. Its last formal meeting was held on June 5 last year – a day after the Lok Sabha election results were announced. At that meeting, 21 parties were in attendance, including the AAP.
The Monsoon session, starting on July 21, will conclude on August 21.
This is going to be the first session since April 22 Pahalgam attack, in which 25 tourists and a local ponywallah were killed. Subsequently, Operation Sindoor was conducted by the Indian armed forces in Pakistan against terror emanating from that country. Top Opposition leaders, including Kharge and Rahul, have then demanded a special session of Parliament to discuss these developments.
A source said Omar Abdullah appealed to the alliance's leaders to raise the issue of restoration of Jammu and Kashmir statehood in both the Houses. 'The meeting decided that along with Pahalgam security lapses, J&K statehood could also be raised,' the source added.