PM must be present for Parl debate on 'Pahalgam-Op Sindoor-Trump': Cong

With the Monsoon session of Parliament starting on Monday, the Congress said Prime Minister Narendra Modi owes it to the country to be present when the issue of 'Pahalgam-Operation Sindoor-President Trump' is finally taken up for discussion.

Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh also took a swipe at Modi over his foreign visit this week, saying "48 hours later, the Super Premium Frequent Flyer" will start yet another foreign visit and the "people of Manipur will have more cause for disappointment".

Prime Minister Modi will pay a four-day visit to the United Kingdom and the Maldives from Wednesday to shore up overall bilateral ties and formalise the landmark India-UK free trade deal.

In a post on X before the start of the session, Ramesh said, "Very shortly the nattily dressed Prime Minister will give his usual Desh ke Naam Sandesh through the media outside the Parliament Building before the commencement of the Monsoon Session of Parliament. This will be full of his usual platitudes and hypocrisy."

"Prime Minister Modi is very, very, very rarely present in Parliament. He speaks once a year on the Motion of Thanks to the President's Address. But this time he owes it to the country to be present when the issue of Pahalgam-Operation Sindoor-President Trump is finally taken up for discussion," Ramesh said.

The Government on Sunday had indicated its willingness to discuss in Parliament Operation Sindoor, a key opposition demand at an all-party meeting on eve of the Monsoon session, even as the INDIA bloc insisted that Prime Minister Modi should respond on the matter as well as on the US President's 'ceasefire' claims and SIR in Bihar.

The Congress on Sunday had demanded that Prime Minister Modi himself should respond to debates in Parliament's Monsoon session on various issues, including Pahalgam attack, US President Donald Trump's ceasefire claims and Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar.

During the Monsoon session of Parliament, the Opposition is set to corner the government on several issues.

Leaders of the INDIA bloc also held a meeting to chalk out their joint strategy and present a united face in attacking the government on intelligence failures that resulted in the Pahalgam attack, Trump's ceasefire claims, besides on SIR in Bihar.