Opposition parties, except NCP-SP, seek special Parliament session

Leaders of 16 opposition parties demanded a special session of Parliament on Operation Sindoor in a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi as Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) parties held a meeting on the issue in the national capital on Tuesday.

IMAGE: Opposition MPs of the INDIA bloc -- Mallikarjun Kharge, Derek O'Brien, K C Venugopal, Tiruchy Siva and Deepender Singh Hooda -- at Parliament House. Image used only for representation. Photograph: Shrikant Singh/ANI Photo

Leaders from several parties, including the Congress, the Trinamool Congress, the Rashtriya Janata Dal, the Samajwadi Party, and the Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray were part of the meeting.

INDIA bloc MPs have signed a letter addressed to the prime minister raising the demand for a special session of Parliament, opposition leaders said.

Congress' Jairam Ramesh and Deependra Hooda, TMC leader Derek O'Brien, SP's Ramgopal Yadav, RJD's Manoj Jha, and Shiv Sena-UBT's Sanjay Raut attended the meeting.

The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam is also among the signatories, but could not join the meeting as it coincided with Karunanidhi's birth anniversary.

The National Conference, the Communist Party of India-Marxist, the Indian Union Muslim League, the Communist Party of India, the Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP), the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK), the Kerala Congress, the Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK), the Communist Party pf India-Marxist Leninist-Liberation are also among those who have signed the letter, opposition leaders said.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) skipped the meeting but will write a separate letter to the prime minister with the demand.

The Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar, however, is not among the parties demanding a special session.

Several Opposition parties have been demanding a special session of Parliament since the Pahalgam terror attack. The demand was also raised in an all-party meeting held to inform the lawmakers about Operation Sindoor.

The Trinamool Congress has suggested that the session should be held in June, after the multi-party delegations that have travelled to different countries to convey India's stand against terrorism return to the country.

Operation Sindoor, India's military response to the April 22 attack in Pahalgam in Kashmir that left 26 people, mostly tourists, dead.

Indian armed forces destroyed terror camps deep inside Pakistan and PoK, and later bombed airbases of the neighbouring country under Operation Sindoor.