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Journalism of Courage
While the Congress and some other parties of the Opposition INDIA alliance have called for a special session of Parliament to discuss the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack, Operation Sindoor and the ceasefire between India and Pakistan, NCP(SP) president Sharad Pawar does not seem to be on the same page with his INDIA allies over the demand.
On Monday, speaking to reporters in Mumbai, Pawar, 84, said that a Parliament session may not be the right forum to discuss issues of national security. “I am not against calling a special session of Parliament, but this is a sensitive and serious issue and discussing such a serious issue is difficult in Parliament… It is necessary to keep information confidential for national interest… Instead of calling a special session, it would be better if we all sit together (for an all-party meeting),” he said.
Congress president and Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in the Rajya Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge, and LoP in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, have sent separate letters to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, asking that a special session of Parliament be convened to discuss the Pahalgam terror attack, Operation Sindoor and the ceasefire “first announced by US President Donald Trump”.
The Congress has also demanded that the BJP-led NDA government should also convene an all-party meeting, maintaining that PM Modi should attend it to take the leaders into confidence over crucial security-related developments and the roadmap ahead.
In an interview with The Indian Express, AICC general secretary Sachin Pilot said, “The Parliament session should be called because the world must see India as one country against terror, against Pakistan’s concept of terror. Our voice of unity must echo from the temple of democracy.” Taking umbrage to the Americans’ offer for mediation on Kashmir, he also said Parliament should make it clear again that “Kashmir is not up for discussions by a third party”.
This is not the first time that Pawar, the Maharashtra stalwart known for his political pragmatism and astuteness, has differed from his Opposition allies
on a major issue. There have been several instances over the years where he has chosen to chart his own course which, his critics say, might have given a breather at times to the ruling BJP camp.
In April 2023, when the Congress led by Rahul Gandhi was at the forefront of the Opposition’s demand for a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe into the report by the short-selling firm Hindenburg against the Adani group, Pawar distanced himself from it while asserting that he did not agree with the stalling of Parliament by the Opposition on the matter.
He also said he believed that the Adani group was being “targeted” by unknown entities whose motives he questioned.
Even during the 2024 Lok Sabha and Assembly poll campaigns in Maharashtra, Pawar shied away from allegations against the Adani group which were repeatedly made by both his allies, the Congress and the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT).
In September 2018, when the Congress and other Opposition parties had been attacking the Modi government over the purchase of the Rafale fighter jets from France alleging corruption and crony capitalism – charges denied by the government – Pawar had seemed to have taken a different stance. In a television interview to a Marathi news channel then, Pawar had purportedly said, “I do not think people doubt (PM) Modi’s personal integrity. But the manner in which crucial information (regarding the Rafale deal) is being suppressed, and the manner in which (then defence minister) Nirmala Sitharaman ji handled the issue has heightened suspicion.”
Pawar’s reported statement was lauded by the BJP which asked Rahul Gandhi, who was then Congress president, to take a cue from his ally and place national interests above party politics.
Subsequently, two senior NCP leaders, including its founding member Tariq Anwar and general secretary Munaf Hakim, quit the party over Pawar’s “clean chit” to PM Modi, even as the then undivided NCP, scrambling for damage control, claimed that Pawar had been quoted out of context.
Rejecting such accusations levelled against him, Pawar later said, “Some people have criticised me, claiming that I had supported him (Modi). I did not. I will never do that. There is no question of supporting this government over the Rafale deal.”
On the Rafale issue too, the Congress had disrupted the proceedings in Parliament and demanded a JPC probe, which was rejected by the government.
After the 2014 Maharashtra Assembly polls, when the BJP had emerged as a single largest party by winning 122 seats out of 288 and its estranged ally, the undivided Shv Sena, had initially chosen to sit in the Opposition, the Pawar-led NCP had offered unconditional support to the BJP government. After a few months, however, the Sena had returned to the NDA fold and joined the then Devendra Fadnavis-led government.
On Pawar’s “inscrutable moves”, a Congress leader says, “He likes to keep everybody guessing without giving hints of his next play. This creates an aura of uncertainty around him while ensuring that he cannot be taken for granted.”
