Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge will open the debate for the party in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday, as the House takes up discussion on Operation Sindoor, India’s military response to the April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir.
Out of the total 16 hours allocated for the Rajya Sabha debate on Operation Sindoor, Congress has been given approximately two hours to present its views.
The discussion in the upper house comes a day after the Lok Sabha held its own debate on the same subject. According to sources, senior ministers including Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar are expected to participate in the Rajya Sabha debate. Prime Minister Narendra Modi may also intervene during the course of the discussion.
Meanwhile, the proceedings in both Houses of Parliament were adjourned till noon on Monday amid uproar over multiple issues, including the Operation Sindoor discussion and the voter list revision exercise being carried out in Bihar ahead of upcoming assembly elections.
In the Lok Sabha, Speaker Om Birla adjourned proceedings during Question Hour, as opposition MPs staged protests and raised slogans while displaying placards in the well of the House.
Before adjourning the session, Speaker Birla expressed disappointment with the opposition’s conduct. “The members are not being allowed to speak during Question Hour. The people of the country are watching. This disruption is deliberate,” he said.
Addressing Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi, the Speaker urged him to advise his party members not to display posters inside the House. “This is not why people have sent MPs to Parliament,” he added, emphasizing that such protests lower the dignity of the House.
“Respected members, do you want to obstruct the House? Don’t you want a discussion on Operation Sindoor? Both sides had agreed on this during the all-party meeting. Yet you are disturbing the proceedings,” Birla remarked before adjourning the session.
The Rajya Sabha was also adjourned till noon amid a similar ruckus, after Deputy Chairperson Harivansh Narayan Singh rejected notices for a discussion on the closure of government schools in Uttar Pradesh, sparking protests from the opposition benches.
Earlier, ahead of the debate in the Lok Sabha, Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju made a strong appeal to the opposition to refrain from using rhetoric that could harm national interests or echo foreign narratives.
“I request the opposition, especially the Congress, not to do anything that harms India’s interests or sounds like the language of Pakistan. We must uphold the dignity of the Indian armed forces,” Rijiju said.
He further added, “Whatever is said here is often used by Pakistan and India’s adversaries abroad. This is not just a political issue—it concerns the pride and security of our nation.”
Operation Sindoor was launched in response to the Pahalgam terror attack on April 22, which claimed the lives of 26 civilians. In retaliation, India conducted precision strikes targeting terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). (Agencies)
