New Delhi, July 30: Opposition parties on Wednesday slammed Prime Minister Narendra Modi for not replying to a debate on the Pahalgam attack and Operation Sindoor in the Rajya Sabha.
Rajya Sabha Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge, in a post on X, said the Prime Minister did not come to the House despite being in Parliament.
“We have asked many questions directly to Modiji. He should answer. If the Prime Minister does not come to the House despite being present in Parliament, then this is an insult to the members of the House and the Rajya Sabha,” Kharge said.
The LoP also shared a clip of his intervention in the Upper House, where he said it was the demand of the Opposition that the Prime Minister reply to the debate.
“It was our demand that after 16 hours of debate, the Prime Minister would appear in the House… Many questions we have asked are related to him, not that you (Home Minister Amit Shah) are not capable…” he had said in the Rajya Sabha.
Congress leader Pramod Tiwari called it a “dark day”.
“This day will be remembered as a dark day. Since day one, there was a demand to call a special session. The government did not do that. In the first week (of Monsoon session), the Prime Minister was out of the country,” he said.
Tiwari said there was an understanding that the Prime Minister would reply in the House, “which has been betrayed”.
“We had oral assurance, this was the understanding in the BAC (business advisory committee). This is an insult to democracy,” he said.
“Perhaps he did not want to reply to questions on Trump’s role in the ceasefire,” he said.
“He replied in the Lok Sabha, but he did not dare to come to the House today (Wednesday). He may have thought that we would ask questions about tariffs,” he said.
DMK leader Tiruchi Siva objected to certain remarks made by Home Minister Amit Shah in the Rajya Sabha.
“The debate took place for 16 hours. We raised many questions… we all insisted that the Prime Minister should come and reply. This is nothing out of the general convention,” he said.
“Parliament is supreme…. Why is the PM not coming to Rajya Sabha. The Council of States is equally important,” he said.
He objected to an expression used by the Home Minister in the House.
“The Home Minister said “nibta denge”, this was not Parliamentary language,” he said.
RJD’s Manoj Jha also slammed the Home Minister for his remarks.
“The Home Minister said the Prime Minister is not required in the House and used the expression “nibta dunga”, this language should not be used in the House,” he said.
Ritabrata Banerjee of the TMC wondered if the Prime Minister wanted to avoid replying to the tariff issue.
“The government should make it clear if Trump asked for the ceasefire, and while the government has not issued any clarification, the US imposed tariffs on India,” he said.
Shah, while speaking in the Rajya Sabha, had said the Prime Minister was in his office, but he was capable of answering the Opposition’s questions.
“Mere se nipat raha hai, kahe Pradhan Mantri ko bula rahe ho (I can dispose this of, why are you calling the Prime Minister),” Shah had said. (PTI)
