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Both Houses adjourned amid ruckus
The government wants to start the debate next week after Modi returns from the UK and Maldives, but the Congress-led Opposition has already launched protests in both Houses for an early debate.
The government has indicated to the Opposition that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, defence minister Rajnath Singh and Union home minister will remain present during the Pahalgam and Operation Sindoor discussion, which has been allotted 16 hours in the Lok Sabha, people aware of discussions said on Monday after a string of disruptions marred the opening day of the monsoon session.
The government, however, wants to start the debate next week after Modi returns from the UK and Maldives, but the Congress-led Opposition has already launched protests in both Houses for an early debate.
At the Business Advisory Committee meeting chaired by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, the government is learnt to have told the Opposition that the PM, Singh and Shah wants to be present during the Pahalgam and Operation Sindoor debate and therefore the much-anticipated discussion may start next week, said the people cited above.
But, the Opposition insisted that the debate should start from Tuesday. The government has not agreed so far to the Opposition’s demand for a debate on the Election Commission’s controversial decision to hold a Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls in Bihar.
Minutes after the Lok Sabha assembled on Monday morning, the Opposition stormed the Well of the House, seeking a debate on Operation Sindoor, under which India struck nine terror targets in Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir in the early hours of May 7, which came in response to the April 22 Pahalgam attack.
“The Government of India is ready to discuss any topic raised in the session. Whenever and whatever time they need to discuss, the Indian government is ready to discuss and answer all the questions raised,” said parliamentary affairs minister Kiren Rijiju.
Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, however, alleged that he was not allowed to speak. “Defence minister, others from the government are allowed to speak, but Opposition leaders are not allowed to speak. I am the Leader of Opposition, it is my right to speak, but they don’t let me speak. This is the new approach,” Gandhi said.
Earlier, an angry Birla snubbed the Opposition for protesting during Question Hour and said the debate on Operation Sindoor can start after Question Hour. “Do you want to discuss Operation Sindoor? We will discuss it after the Question Hour. All of you go and sit down. The government will answer every question. The government has said that it will answer every question,” he said.
The protests, however, continued, forcing adjournments.
In the Upper House, the session opened to a fiery start on Monday as Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge sought answers from the government over the Pahalgam attack, prompting a heated response from Union minister JP Nadda, who said the government will not avoid discussing any issue.
Nadda lashed out at Kharge, the Congress president, for bringing up minute details of Operation Sindoor even though the government had slotted for a full debate on the military strikes.
The PM, defence minister and home minister’s participation will underline the government’s show of strength and the importance of the momentous debate that will not confine to the Centre’s rejection of the Opposition’s allegations but building a narrative for the country and sending a message to the international community, lawmakers from the ruling NDA claimed.
Samajwadi Party MPs, too, demanded debate on Pahalgam but didn’t storm to the Well. Later, SP’s floor leader Akhilesh Yadav said, “All the MPs want the Prime Minister to be present in the House. The Opposition must be heard and thereafter, they (government) may respond whatever they want to...”
Calling the Lok Sabha BAC meeting as “disappointing”, Congress leader Gaurav Gogoi said that the government must clarify when the debate will start. “We are repeatedly told that the Prime Minister is going on foreign tours. It may be necessary for him to go on foreign tours, but when we are meeting for the first time in the monsoon session after Pahalgam and Operation Sindoor, could this discussion not have taken place today?” Gogoi asked.
In the BAC meeting of the Rajya Sabha chaired by chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar, the Opposition demanded that the PM must reply to the debate. Government managers said they need time to check with the PM. With the first meeting remaining inconclusive, the Upper House floor leaders met again at 4.30 PM but the Leader of the House JP Nadda and Rijiju couldn’t attend the meeting. It was decided that BAC will meet again at 1pm on Tuesday.
Biju Janata Dal leader Sasmit Patra said, “The BJD is currently focused on the deteriorating law & order situation in Odisha and the alarming increase of atrocities against women. We don’t want to deviate from our issue. When the Pahalgam and Operation Sindoor come up for debate, we will decide what to do.”
In the Rajya Sabha, Kharge sought to know if terrorists involved in the attack had been arrested or killed, saying he had given a notice to the chairman under rule 267, seeking suspension of all business to discuss a topic of urgency.
“I have given notice under Rule 267 on Pahalgam terror attack and Operation Sindoor. Till today, the terrorists have not been caught or neutralised. All parties extended unconditional support to the government,” Kharge said.
The government should “inform us about what has happened”, the leader of the Opposition said, adding: “The lieutenant governor of Jammu & Kashmir had made a statement that there was an intelligence failure. We want to know what happened?”
Kharge’s questions foreshadowed what is likely to be a stormy debate on the terror attack that provoked air strikes by India, targeting terrorist bases inside Pakistan on May 7.
The Leader of the Opposition also brought up US president Donald Trump’s repeated claims that he intervened in the conflict and used trade as a leverage to bring about a ceasefire between the two countries: “Donald Trump has said 24 times that it is because of his interference that the war stopped. This is an insult to the nation. We want to know the truth?”
Nadda replied that it was not proper for Kharge to begin a detailed discussion on Operation Sindoor and the Pahalgam terror attack under rule 267 given that chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar had merely sought Kharge’s views on the chair’s observations on rule 267.
The leader of the House said there should not be any impression created in the house that the government doesn’t want a discussion on either Operation Sindoor or the Pahalgam attack. “We will have a discussion in every possible way,” Nadda said.
All facts about the operation will be placed before the country and the world, Nadda said, adding: “Never since the Independence of this country has there been an operation like this, which was carried out under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.”
