6 min readNew DelhiJun 4, 2025 02:17 AM IST
First published on: Jun 3, 2025 at 04:57 PM IST
At a time when questions are being raised about the future of the INDIA bloc, some of the Opposition alliance’s top leaders have written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking a special Parliament session to “discuss the developments following the terror attack in Pahalgam”.
“There are serious questions facing the nation about the terror attack, killing of civilians in Poonch, Uri and Rajouri, the ceasefire announcements, and the implications on our national security and foreign policy. We have supported the government’s efforts to engage with the international community on India’s position. The government has briefed foreign nations and the media, but not Parliament — keeping the people of India and their elected representatives in the dark. Therefore, we urge you to convene a special session of Parliament immediately upon the return of the all-party delegations,” reads the letter dated June 2. Government insiders have told The Indian Express there are no plans at the moment to convene a special session.
It has been signed, among others, by the Leaders of the Opposition in the two Houses of Parliament, Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge; SP president Akhilesh Yadav; Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra; TMC second-in-command Abhishek Banerjee; and DMK leader T R Baalu. Representatives of other INDIA bloc parties such as RJD, National Conference, JMM, CPI, CPI(M), IUML, MDMK, RJD, Shiv Sena (UBT), VCK, and CPI(ML) L also signed the letter.
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Earlier on Tuesday, leaders of five INDIA bloc parties met in Delhi to discuss the letter and their joint demand for the session. However, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) skipped the talks and sent a separate letter to Modi, with a party spokesperson alleging that the “real alliance is between the BJP and the Congress behind the scenes”.
Sharad Pawar’s NCP (SP) has also not signed the letter yet. A party MP who did not wish to be named told The Indian Express that one of the reasons was Pawar not being in favour of a special session on the issue. On May 12, the NCP (SP) chief said a Parliament session might not be the right forum to discuss matters of national security.
“Our leader (Pawar) has already said such sensitive issues can’t be discussed in Parliament. Hence, we decided not to sign the letter. If Supriya Sule ji (the party’s Lok Sabha leader) were here, we might have signed. But she is travelling as part of an all-party delegation abroad,” said the MP. Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut said he would talk to Pawar after returning to Mumbai.
Those at the meeting were Congress communications chief Jairam Ramesh, the party’s Lok Sabha MP Deepender Singh Hooda, TMC parliamentary party leader in the Rajya Sabha Derek O’Brien, RJD Rajya Sabha MP Manoj Kumar Jha, SP Rajya Sabha MP Ram Gopal Yadav, and Raut.
After the discussions, O’Brien told the media, “The government is responsible to Parliament and Parliament is responsible to the people. That is why this session is needed. This is not a decision of the parliamentary party (group) of these parties. This is by the heads of these parties … The decision has been made at the top level of the parties.”
A senior Congress leader claimed Rahul Gandhi wanted the letter to be drafted in coordination with the other Opposition parties. “The initial plan was to have only Congress MPs sign the letter, but the Lok Sabha LoP wanted it to be the INDIA bloc’s letter. He reached out to Akhilesh Yadav, Abhishek Banerjee, T R Balu, and Aaditya Thackeray. K C Venugopal and Gaurav Gogoi followed it up by reaching out to some parties… Our (Lok Sabha) chief whip K Suresh, and whips Manickam Tagore and Mohammad Jawed also reached out to some parties,” said the party functionary.
Hooda said the government should brief Parliament on the Pahalgam attack, Operation Sindoor, the announcement of the ceasefire by the US, and efforts being made to “isolate Pakistan on the world stage and how successful we have been in that”.
Ram Gopal Yadav said while the government had reached out to other countries about the terror emanating from Pakistan, it was “keeping Parliament and the people of India in the dark”.
Manoj Jha said he was not concerned about how many fighter jets were lost during the military operations last month. “I am concerned about why,” he added. On Saturday, Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan said India initially suffered losses in the air during the conflict before switching tactics to establish a decisive advantage over Pakistan.
AAP skips meeting
Asked why the AAP stayed away from the meeting and did not sign the letter, the party’s Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh told The Indian Express, “We stayed away because the INDIA bloc was limited to the Lok Sabha elections.”
Singh, who was the AAP’s chief coordinator for the INDIA bloc, said, “As far as the alliance is concerned, suffice it to say that both parties (AAP and Congress) are head to head in both seats in Gujarat (by-elections); there was also no alliance in the Haryana and Delhi Assembly elections between both parties.”
In his letter to the PM, Singh said the special session was required immediately to restore “public faith in our constitutional institutions”. He urged Modi to “rise to the occasion” and address the nation through Parliament.
Targeting the Congress, AAP national spokesperson Anurag Dhanda said, “The real alliance is between the BJP and the Congress behind the scenes. Rahul Gandhi says only that which benefits Modi politically. In return, Modi ji saves the Gandhi family from going to jail. Neither of them is interested in providing basic facilities such as schools, hospitals, electricity and water.”
INDIA bloc leaders (from left) Sanjay Raut, Derek O'Brien, Manoj Jha, Deepender Singh Hooda and Jairam Ramesh address the media in New Delhi on Tuesday. (Express photo) 
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