Congress to focus on Pahalgam terror attack in first week of Monsoon Session of Parliament

The intelligence failure that resulted in the Pahalgam terror attack, the fallout of Operation Sindoor and U.S. President Donald Trump’s claim of achieving the ceasefire, India’s fresh engagement with China, and the volatility in West Asia have been identified as the key issues that the Congress will like to raise in the first week of the Monsoon Session of Parliament.

The special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral polls in Bihar will also be a key focus area for the Congress.

The party’s leadership will now reach out to other constituents of the Indian National Developmental, Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) and explore the possibility of holding a meeting of INDIA bloc leaders on July 19/20 and finalise a common agenda.

This was decided at a meeting of the parliamentary strategy group, presided by Congress Parliamentary Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, on Tuesday.

Party chief Mallikarjun Kharge, who is also the Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in the Rajya Sabha, his Lok Sabha counterpart Rahul Gandhi, general secretary (organisation) K.C. Venugopal, Chief Whips Jairam Ramesh and Kodikunnil Suresh were present. Other senior leaders who were present included P. Chidambaram, Manish Tewari, and Pramod Tiwari.

Interestingly, Lok Sabha member Shashi Tharoor, whose views have been at odds with the party, was absent as he was out of the country. Few other members like Gaurav Gogoi, Mohammed Jawed, Manickam Tagore too were missing because of pre-scheduled programmes.

“The Pahalgam terror attack, that wiped out the sindoor of our sisters, has been one of the biggest attacks. We had demanded a special session but the government didn’t agree. So, we will keep our focus on why the perpetrators of such a dastardly attack have not yet been caught,” Mr. Tiwari, Congress deputy leader in the Rajya Sabha, told reporters.