While Leader of the Rajya Sabha and BJP President JP Nadda asserted the government’s readiness for a “detailed discussion” on the issues, the opposition remained adamant, leading to adjournments until tomorrow. The government’s legislative agenda, including a new income-tax bill, hangs in the balance amidst the political deadlock.
In a discussion with CNBC-TV18, Congress Spokesperson Salman Soz articulated the opposition’s concerns, stating, “Well, there are lots of unanswered questions. It’s not just about the operation itself. We first have to fully understand what happened in Pahalgam. Who were these perpetrators? How did they manage to get to that particular location? What kinds of lapses led to that massacre of 26 innocent people and the destruction of the peace of so many families.” Soz further questioned the efficacy of Operation Sindoor and the implications of President Trump’s statements, asking, “How does the US President claim that he brokered something between two nuclear powers?”
Responding to the opposition’s tactics, BJP Spokesperson Charu Pragya expressed dismay over the continuous disruptions. “It’s unfortunate that our Parliament session yet again has begun with a ruckus instead of a debate,” Pragya lamented, accusing the opposition of “coming in prepared to cause disruption. No discussion, only disruption.” She highlighted the significant loss of parliamentary time due to such protests, emphasising the nation’s desire for concrete answers and constructive dialogue.
Below is the excerpt of the discussion.
Q: During Operation Sindoor, the opposition, including the Congress, had wholeheartedly supported whatever the government was doing in terms of retaliation against Pakistan. Now, one of the main reasons why there was sloganeering and the house was adjourned was because the Congress and the opposition wanted a debate on Operation Sindoor. What exactly are you seeking as answers from the government at this stage?
Soz: Well, there are lots of unanswered questions. It’s not just about the operation itself. We first have to fully understand what happened in Pahalgam. Who were these perpetrators? How did they manage to get to that particular location? What kinds of lapses led to that massacre of 26 innocent people and the destruction of the peace of so many families. You talked about the apprehension of those people, we don’t really know where they are, and all that. But that’s one aspect of it.
The second aspect is the operation itself. There have been many revelations now since the operation started, about how, because of what the government’s strategy was, the Pakistani establishment seemed to know everything that we were going to be doing, and because of that, we may have suffered some losses in the initial days. Now, those losses should not have happened if they had been suffered by our side. And if that happened because of a political decision, then we need answers for that too. So that’s the other aspect of it. Then there’s this foreign policy aspect of this, and the foreign policy aspect of this has become very, very pertinent. How does the US President claim that he brokered something between two nuclear powers? They’re both great nuclear powers, he says. There’s no condemnation of Pakistan; there’s no Security Council resolution condemning Pakistan or condemning terrorist activity sponsored by Pakistan. So that is the other aspect of it, that the US government is basically taking it upon itself to manage our affairs. How can that be?
Q: Let me also bring in Charu Pragya to answer the first question, at the time of Operation Sindoor and after that, there was support from the Congress Party. But now the time has come to answer those critical questions in Parliament. First, why were there security lapses that led to the Pahalgam terror attack, and where have those terrorists actually gone? Yes, we’ve taken action against Pakistan, but what about the actual perpetrators? What will be the government’s reply?
Pragya: It’s unfortunate that our Parliament session yet again has begun with a ruckus instead of a debate. We were waiting for a very constructive discussion. Even the citizens of this country want to know all the details about what happened in Pahalgam, also Operation Sindoor, and the government is ready to discuss this. The government wants to discuss this. Yet, what do we see? We see an opposition coming in prepared to cause disruption. No discussion, only disruption. If the government wants to speak, you want to stall that? If the government says, “Yes, we will speak on every single agenda listed by you,” they want to give a timetable, and when the timetable is also kind of ready to be expected, they set one other goal. So, the fact is, they keep shifting the goal post. They don’t realise that every single day we lose in Parliament, it is a loss to the nation. It’s our loss. There are important bills to be tabled, important discussions to be had, yet how can we have those kind of discussions when our opposition just wants to focus on one thing: that our productivity becomes zero? Around 16% of our Parliament’s time in the 16th Lok Sabha was lost due to disruption. This figure rose to 35% in the 17th Lok Sabha, 35%! And we’ve seen visuals never seen before. We’ve seen marshals manhandled into hospital. That is the extent to which the opposition has gone. You can’t keep shifting the goal post. When the government wants to discuss something, why don’t you just sit down, open your ears, and your minds, more importantly, and listen to that discussion? You will have ample chance to respond. Today, even before the house gets into order, even before the day begins, the disruptions begin. Tell me, who is going to believe that this is not orchestrated? This is not spontaneous. You walk in with placards. You don’t want to discuss policy. You have reduced our Parliament and its time to a joke, and the joke is on you.
Q: Salman Soz, you have the BJP saying they’re ready for any discussion. Then why the protest in the house? If there was a notice given by the opposition for discussion, an internal discussion with the government would have allowed a debate to take place. What was the need to resort to sloganeering on the floor of the house?
Soz: There are parliamentary norms which the BJP under Narendra Modi has destroyed. The defence minister makes a statement, and the Leader of the Opposition says, “Can I say something?” No, but you cannot say something because you’re Rahul Gandhi, you’re Leader of the Opposition. Opposition does not matter. Why is it that the Speaker consistently acts as if he’s an agent of the BJP? The leader of the Opposition represents 240 seats and you’re not giving the Leader of the Opposition even one sentence. Is that fair?
Q: One question that I’d like to ask you about Justice Yashwant Verma at this stage, do you feel this is an issue that can be taken up by the Parliament at the earliest? Is there enough consensus on the motion for impeachment, both in the opposition and across opposition ranks, actually?
Soz: Our party has made a very clear statement on some of the top priorities for this parliamentary session. And of course, we have extremely serious allegations about Justice Verma, we have to take that up. But, the Congress Party has said that for us, national security, Operation Sindoor, that is a huge issue. Our foreign policy and rivalry with China, and how that will take shape, that is very important. How the American President, how the American administration is dealing with India, which, quite frankly, is not very good. We need to discuss that. And by the way, we have the issue of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh and Manipur. Those are extremely important to us in the Congress Party. We will be pushing for those items.
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