New Delhi: The Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Wednesday demanded that a special session of Parliament be held in June, before the Monsoon session, to get the government to answer some urgent questions on Operation Sindoor. The party also accused the ruling BJP of trying to politicise Operation Sindoor by holding political rallies. Opposition parties have been demanding a special session of Parliament since the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack, which claimed 26 lives. The demand was also raised in an all-party meeting held to inform MPs about Operation Sindoor. "We now believe that having given full support to the government, we are now supporting the demand first made by MP Kapil Sibal -- that there must be a special session of Parliament. We demand that a special session be held in June, before the Monsoon session," TMC Rajya Sabha deputy leader Sagarika Ghose said at a press conference here. "Now that overseas audiences have heard the Indian point of view, it is time that India and the citizens of India heard the government's point of view. Let the government answer certain urgent questions which we have been raising in the national interest," she said.
The Monsoon session of Parliament is usually held in the third week of July. TMC leaders also said opposition parties will come together to push for the demand for a special session of Parliament. "We, the parties who are fighting the BJP, are working together and moving ahead together on the demand for a special session of Parliament," TMC's Parliamentary party leader in Rajya Sabha Derek O'Brien told reporters. Congress, Samajwadi Party, Shiv Sena (UBT), RJD, Left parties, National Conference, JMM and AAP are among the parties that have raised the demand for a special session of Parliament. A source said opposition parties are in touch over the issue. Ghose attacked the BJP for trying to politicise Operation Sindoor. "The political effort by the BJP to politicise Operation Sindoor is deplorable. The fact is that it is the bravery of our armed forces which we are saluting. It has shown the bravery and courage and skill of our armed forces. "For the BJP to try to politicise Operation Sindoor through political rallies is highly unacceptable. It is the politics of spectacle, it is the politics of drama and it is the politics of histrionics," she said. "We do not believe that the sacrifice and bravery of our armed forces should be politicised in this way. Even the prime minister is engaging in the most theatrical type of politics over this Operation Sindoor," she added.
Under Operation Sindoor, India carried out precision strikes on nine terror infrastructure sites in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in the early hours of May 7 in response to the Pahalgam terror attack. Following the Indian action, Pakistan attempted to attack Indian military bases on May 8, 9 and 10. The Indian side responded strongly to Pakistani attempts. India has now sent seven multi-party delegations to key partner countries, including members of the UN Security Council, to convey India's message of zero tolerance against terrorism following the Pahalgam terror attack and Operation Sindoor. The delegations led by BJP's Baijayant Panda and Ravi Shankar Prasad, JDU's Sanjay Kumar Jha, Shiv Sena's Shrikant Shinde, Congress' Shashi Tharoor, DMK's Kanimozhi and NCP-SP's Supriya Sule will visit a total of 32 countries and the EU headquarters in Brussels, Belgium. TMC's national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee is part of the delegation led by Jha.