New Delhi: Parliament is likely to take up a discussion on the Pahalgam terror attack and Operation Sindoor early next week, with both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha expected to hold a 16-hour debate each.
While the government had agreed to the 16-hour discussion in the Lok Sabha at the Business Advisory Committee meeting on July 21, a similar decision was taken at the Rajya Sabha’s BAC meeting on Wednesday, amid the opposition’s insistence that Prime Minister Narendra Modi should speak on the issue.
The Lok Sabha will begin the discussion on July 28 and the Rajya Sabha a day later if there are no disruptions, sources said.
Opposition protests over a host of issues, especially the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in poll-bound Bihar, have washed out the proceedings in both the Houses, except for a few transactions, since the Monsoon session began on Monday.
It has also attacked the government for not prioritising a discussion on Operation Sindoor and the April 22 Pahalgam attack.
The government, the sources said, has made no commitment on the opposition’s demand for the prime minister’s response but has cited its proposal for a parliamentary discussion next week on the ground that Modi will be back by then from his four-day foreign visit, for which he left on Wednesday.
A senior BJP leader said the debate on the conflict with Pakistan, which ensued after India retaliated under Operation Sindoor following the killing of 26 civilians in the Pahalgam terror attack, will not only have a strong national traction but will also be paid attention to by the global community.
“The prime minister may choose the occasion to convey his government’s robust response to the terror attack and stand on a host of issues,” the BJP leader said, adding that a final call has not been taken yet on whether Modi will speak or not.
Congress’ deputy leader in the Rajya Sabha Pramod Tiwari, who attended the BAC meeting, claimed, “We have demanded that Prime Minister Narendra Modi should be present during the discussion, and we have been assured of that by the government.”
This was the first BAC meeting after Jagdeep Dhankhar stepped down as vice president on Monday, when he chaired two back-to-back committee meetings to finalise the House’s agenda. The vice president is ex officio chairman of the Rajya Sabha.
Dhankhar called off the second meeting and rescheduled it for Tuesday as Leader of the House in Rajya Sabha J P Nadda and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju did not attend due to what they later said was their engagement in other official business. Dhankhar resigned a few hours later to “prioritise health care”.
The BAC includes representatives of various parties and is chaired by the respective presiding officers of the two Houses.
The opposition has also demanded debate on a host of other topics, including the Bihar SIR, but the government has given no assurance on it so far.
