Monsoon Session of Parliament: Congress to corner Modi govt on Pahalgam, Trump claims and Bihar voter list revision
The decision was taken during Tuesday's meeting of the top Congress leadership. The opposition party also decided to raise farmers' problems, rising unemployment, the safety and security of the country, and the Ahmedabad air crash during the month-long Monsoon session that will run until August 21.
Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi convened a meeting of the party's parliamentary strategy group at her 10 Janpath residence on Tuesday evening.
Top party leaders, including Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, Deputy Leader in the Rajya Sabha Pramod Tiwari and others, such as Jairam Ramesh, K Suresh and Manickam Tagore, participated in the meeting.
Briefing reporters after the meeting, Tiwari said 26 people were killed in Pahalgam and the opposition INDIA bloc has been demanding a special session of Parliament for a discussion on the April 22 terror attack.
"We want to know where those terrorists are who killed 26 people and widowed our sisters in Pahalgam? Why no action has been taken against them yet?" he asked.
The monsoon session of Parliament will be held from July 21 to August 21. After a break of over three and a half months, both houses of Parliament—the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha – are scheduled to convene on July 21 at 11 a.m.
This will be the first session of Parliament after Operation Sindoor – India's precision strikes on terror camps in Pakistan in the aftermath of the Pahalgam terror attack that killed 26 people, mostly tourists.
Tiwari said that when the entire country was demanding action against those behind the attack and when the Indian armed forces launched Operation Sindoor against terror camps in Pakistan, a sudden ceasefire was announced.
"Surely, when awards are to be taken then it is the prime minister. When 26 precious lives have been lost, the prime minister will have to reply on this too," Tiwari said, when asked if the Congress will seek the prime minister's reply.
US President Donald Trump has claimed 22 times that he got the ceasefire done, the Congress leader said, adding that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has not countered Trump's claims even once.
"The suspenseful silence of Prime Minister Modi on the claims of President Trump 22 times is deafening," he noted.
"A question that is bothering everyone is, where are those dreaded terrorists? Has the earth engulfed them or the sky? Who is responsible for it?" Tiwari asked.
"Our concern is, why was there an intelligence and security failure in Pahalgam, who is responsible and who is morally responsible and where are those terrorists.
"We are hopeful that the government will allow a discussion on the issues raised by us and on the manner in which the bravery of our brave soldiers was throttled by the untimely ceasefire. We will surely demand answers on why Pahalgam in Jammu and Kashmir was left unguarded," the Congress leader said.
Tiwari also disclosed that the party will raise the serious issue of electoral manipulations in elections in states like Maharashtra, Haryana, and now in Bihar where a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls has triggered a political storm. Tiwari said the election process had come under suspicion.
He alleged that earlier, democracy was "murdered" in Haryana and Maharashtra and said what is emerging from Bihar now is a matter of concern.
"The SIR of the electoral rolls in Bihar is a threat to democracy," Tiwari said, adding that a discussion will be sought on the issue.
The Congress wants the SIR to be scrapped, alleging that it is "unconstitutional" and aimed at disenfranchising around two crore voters in Bihar..
Raising the issue of Jammu and Kashmir, where he said the poll verdict was against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Tiwari asked, 'When will you give full statehood to Jammu and Kashmir?'
The suspenseful silence of Prime Minister Modi on the claims of President Trump 22 times is deafening.
The Congress is also likely to discuss the impeachment notice against Justice Yashwant Varma with other political parties.
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