Pahalgam attack, Op Sindoor debate in Parl today: Congress issues whip, Gaurav Gogoi to lead charge

The Congress party has issued a whip to its Lok Sabha MPs, mandating their presence in the House for three days starting today. A debate on the Pahalgam terror attack and Operation Sindoor is set to take place.

News agency PTI, quoting sources, said the party’s Deputy Leader in the House, Gaurav Gogoi, is expected to lead the opposition party’s charge on the first day of the debate.

The Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP)- led ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and the Opposition are set to clash over two issues steeped in national security and foreign policy imperatives.

The NDA and the opposition parties are expected to field their top guns during the discussion in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha.

On the government side, Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar are expected to speak on the issues. There are indications that Prime Minister Narendra Modi may also speak in the House during the debate, likely on Tuesday, to convey his government’s “robust” stand against terrorism. But there is no official confirmation on this

After the first week of the Parliament’s Monsoon session ended up in a virtual washout due to opposition protests over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls in Bihar and other issues, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said on July 25 that the Opposition has agreed to the start of a discussion on the Pahalgam attack and Operation Sindoor in the Lok Sabha on Monday and in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday.

The Opposition has agreed to the start of a discussion on the Pahalgam attack and Operation Sindoor.

The two sides have consented to a marathon 16-hour debate in each House, which invariably stretches longer in practice.