Modi and Ministers all set for Operation Sindoor offensive in Parliament

After a week of acrimony and uproar that derailed parliamentary proceedings, Parliament will resume functioning on Monday (July 28). The Centre and Opposition have agreed on a marathon discussion on “all aspects” related to Operation Sindoor.

On Friday (July 25), the floor leaders of the ruling and Opposition parties had agreed at a meeting of Parliament’s Business Advisory Committee (BAC) to a 16 hour discussion in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha on Monday and Tuesday, respectively.

Yet, while the agreement between the Centre and the Opposition may restore functioning of Parliament, after a week that saw repeated adjournments and only one Bill being passed in Rajya Sabha, the discussion itself is expected to be high on political drama.

Battery of heavy hitters

The government, say sources, has lined up a battery of heavy hitters to speak during the discussion, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi also expected to make an intervention.

A discussion on Operation Sindoor and the events that preceded or followed it — the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack, the ceasefire announcement and the palpable isolation of India at the world stage during the conflict — as well as Modi’s reply during the debate has been a long standing demand of the Opposition.

Also read | When Operation Sindoor exposed the dysfunction of Hindutva

The Centre, however, is expected to come out all guns blazing in its bid to turn the tables on its rivals.

There were clear indications in Modi’s customary address to the media ahead of the start of the Monsoon Session on July 21 of his government’s intent to pass off Operation Sindoor as an unprecedented landmark in India’s military operations against Pakistan and diplomatic outreach on the issue of counter-terrorism.

His dubbing of the Monsoon Session as a vijay utsav (victory celebration) showed that the government is determined to brazen out any criticism coming from the Opposition.

Cabinet heavyweights

Sources in the government told The Federal that the discussion would see Defence Minister Rajnath Singh give a “heavily political” overview of the military response against Pakistan — from “dismantling of Pakistani terror infrastructure” to how “the Prime Minister’s push for ‘Make in India defence manufacturing’ had aided India’s military dominance’.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah is expected to counter the Opposition’s predictable diatribe on issues of intelligence failure that led to the Pahalgam terror attack, which became the trigger for Operation Sindoor.

Likewise, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, sources said, will outline the “diplomatic response” of the government, including the Centre’s “bipartisan approach” in sending all-party delegations to nearly three dozen countries to present “the Prime Minister’s vision for global peace that can only be achieved by dismantling terror hubs thriving in countries like Pakistan”.

All-party delegations

The government will also field other MPs from the BJP and the wider NDA, who were part of the all-party delegations commissioned for India’s post-Sindoor diplomatic outreach, to “share their experience”. Among the MPs who the BJP is expected to field during the discussion in the Lok Sabha are its long-standing agent provocateurs Nishikant Dubey and Anurag Thakur.

Also read | Why India-Pak truce brings little cheer as uncertainty looms large

Sources said while Modi is “unlikely” to be the last speaker to conclude the discussion, he would “definitely make an intervention”.

Modi is expected to keep his guns trained squarely on the Congress in a bid to isolate it from the rest of the Opposition by highlighting the “countless terror attacks India suffered” under Congress rule.

The Prime Minister, said sources, is expected to keep his guns trained squarely on the Congress in a bid to isolate it from the rest of the Opposition by highlighting the “countless terror attacks India suffered” under Congress rule and the alleged “refusal of then Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh to allow the Indian Armed Forces to launch a counter-strike against Pakistan following the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks”.

Modi, it is learnt, will also elaborate on his pitch for a “new normal” in India-Pakistan relationship, peppering his intervention liberally with the “surgical strikes” he authorised against Pakistan at different times during his stint as Prime Minister.

Three broad issues

The Opposition, on its part, plans to pin the government down on three broad issues. Firstly, the alleged intelligence failure that led to the massacre by Pakistani terrorists of 26 civilians in Pahalgam’s Baisaran meadows on April 22 and the fact that the Indian agencies are yet to ascertain the identities of the perpetrators, leave alone nab them.

Watch | Kanimozhi's take on multi-party delegations on Operation Sindoor

Secondly, the claims, though vague, made by multiple Indian defence establishment officials, a section of the media as well as US President Donald Trump, of Indian jets being downed by the Pakistani Forces on Day 1 of the military conflict.

Lastly, and most importantly, Trump’s self-professed role in negotiating the ceasefire using the threat of stopping trade with India and the way no foreign country, including long-standing allies, came out unambiguously in India’s support during and after Operation Sindoor.

Rahul's intervention

Sources in the Congress said the Lok Sabha’s Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi is likely to keep his intervention focused on Modi’s deafening silence against Trump’s claims on the ceasefire and could.

He might, yet again, rake up his “Narendra Surrender” jibe at the Prime Minister despite the risk of the BJP painting this as an “anti-India” and “language of Pakistan” comment and Rahul not finding support for such a line of attack from his party’s allies.

Rahul aside, the debate is expected to have interventions from Opposition leaders including Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, NCP-SP’s Supriya Sule, DMK’s Kanimozhi and Trinamool Congress’ Abhishek Banerjee, among others. Interestingly, Sule, Kanimozhi and Banerjee were all part of the all-party delegations that the Modi government had dispatched overseas in the aftermath of Operation Sindoor.

The Tharoor question

What has, however, also triggered immense speculation is whether the Congress will decide to let its members, who were part of these all-party delegations, speak during the discussion.

Also read | Why Shashi Tharoor’s take on the Emergency is deeply flawed

Among these were Manish Tewari, Amar Singh and Shashi Tharoor, whom the government had roped in for the delegations against the wishes of the Congress high command. Tharoor’s equation with his party leadership has been strained – many say irreparably – for months, Manish Tewari and Amar Singh.

While Amar Singh maintains a low profile and is unlikely to stray from the party line on the matter if picked to speak during the discussion, both Tharoor and Tewari are seen as “troublemakers” by Congress leaders close to the party high command. They could leave Rahul embarrassed during the debate in the Lok Sabha.