Congress Skips MPs Involved in India’s Foreign Outreach For Operation Sindoor Debate, Here's Who’s Been Chosen To Speak

The Congress leaders, who were members of multi-party delegations visiting different countries following Operation Sindoor, have been excluded from the list of speakers for the parliamentary debate on the operation that commenced on Monday (28 July).

“The delegations represented India abroad and spoke in favour of the government. Now, it is time to voice the concerns of the Opposition and people of India, and hence, the party has picked new people to speak in the House,” a Congress MP was quoted as saying by the Indian Express.

The delegations included leaders such as former Union ministers Salman Khurshid and Anand Sharma, who are not presently serving as MPs. Additionally, MPs such as Shashi Tharoor, Manish Tewari, and Amar Singh were not selected by the Congress to participate in the debate.

The Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha of Parliament have each allocated 16 hours for deliberations on several matters including Operation Sindoor, the assault in Pahalgam, and claims by US President Donald Trump about facilitating a truce between India and Pakistan. The Lok Sabha started debate on these issues on Monday, and the Upper House is expected to follow suit on Tuesday.

The Congress has been in conflict with the Centre regarding the formation of the delegation, blaming the government for playing "low-level politics" by excluding their preferred members such as the deputy floor leader in the Lok Sabha, Gaurav Gogoi, and Punjab MP, Amrinder Singh Raja Warring.

The party expressed significant displeasure regarding the Centre's decision to select Tharoor, a former diplomat and the leader of the Parliamentary Committee on External Affairs, as a delegate. This decision came after numerous instances where the Congress MP had disagreements with his party.

The debate in the Lok Sabha will be initiated by Gogoi representing the Opposition, followed by other speakers from Congress, including Priyanka Gandhi Vadra from Wayanad, Deepender Singh Hooda from Rohtak, Praniti Shinde from Solapur, Saptagiri Ulaka from Koraput, and Brijendra Singh Ola from Jhunjhunu.

The IE sources revealed that Rahul Gandhi, the Opposition Leader in the Lok Sabha, along with Warring from Ludhiana, Lok Sabha Whip Manickam Tagore from Virudhanagar, and Shafi Parambil from Vadakara, are scheduled to speak on Tuesday.