Calling the April 22 Pahalgam attack an “intelligence failure”, Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge, on Tuesday called on Home Minister Amit Shah to take responsibility for the attack.
Speaking during the debate on Operation Sindoor in the Upper House, Kharge raised questions on the accountability of the government, further claiming repeated intelligence lapses in the country since the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came to rule.
“Since the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has come to rule, there have been attacks in the country, and yet there has been no action taken on it. Uri and Pathankot attack in 2016, the Pulawama attack in 2019 and now the Pahalgam attack in 2025. All these incidents have made it clear that there has been a recurring intelligence failure and a failure in the national security… I want to ask the Home Minister on who is taking accountability for this? What has the government done to rectify the mistakes in the intelligence failures? If you are responsible, vacate your post. If no, what action has the Prime Minister been taking…?” Kharge said.
The LoP further stated that it was not the Jammu Kashmir Lieutenant Governor (LG) Manoj Sinha who was supposed to take responsibility for the Pahalgam attack being a “security failure”, but should have been the Home Minister Amit Shah.
“On July 14, the Jammu Kashmir LG Manoj Sinha took responsibility for the Pahalgam attack being a security failure. However, the responsibility for this should be taken by the Home Minister and not the LG…” he further stated.
Taking a jibe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his visit to Bihar during the Parliament sessions, Kharge stated that the PM lacked the capability to sit and listen to the opposition and wasn’t capable of holding the post.
“While the opposition was attending the all-party meeting, the PM went to Bihar for his election campaigning. Is that his level of patriotism? He should have been in the House today and listening to the Opposition… if he does not have the capability to hear, he should not be capable of holding the post…” Kharge said.
Further lashing out at the government, the Congress President claimed that he, along with the Congress Leader Rahul Gandhi, had demanded a special session of the Parliament in a letter to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi; however, he had received no response.
Mocking the PM for not responding to the letters, Kharge stated that the arrogance of the PM would drag him down.
“We demanded a special session on the Operation Sindoor and wrote letters to the PM, but there was no response, and our letters were dumped in the waste box. They were not even read. If you have such arrogance, then one day, people will tear your arrogance down. This is not good. You have the time to visit Saudi Arabia and Bihar, but you do not have the time to respond to our letters…” he further stated. (ANI)
