The Opposition will highlight the government’s failure to apprehend the perpetrators of the Pahalgam terror attack and U.S. President Donald Trump’s repeated claims on allegedly brokering peace between India and Pakistan during Operation Sindoor, the leaders of 24 INDIA bloc parties decided at a virtual meeting on Saturday (July 19, 2025) evening.

The meeting comes ahead of the Monsoon Session of Parliament, which is scheduled to begin on Monday (July 21, 2025). Sources said the parties have also decided to hold a protest against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls in Bihar ahead of the Assembly polls in the State. The Parliamentary floor leaders could have another meeting, after the all-party meeting hosted by the government on Sunday.

Statehood for J&K

The demand for statehood for Jammu and Kashmir will also be raised during the session. Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha and senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge had recently written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the subject. National Conference leader and J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said that the Opposition must be firm on this demand.

It was also decided that the INDIA bloc should have a physical meeting soon.

Addressing reporters at the end of the meeting, Congress leader Pramod Tiwari said that the leaders have listed eight priority issues, though this by no means is an exhaustive list of all the subjects that the Opposition plans to raise. “The issue that directly impacts the pride of 140 crore Indians is why, even after so many days, the government has failed to nab terrorists responsible for the Pahalgam terror attack,” he said. Mr. Tiwari said that the government has already “confessed” that there was an “intelligence failure”.

“U.S. President Donald Trump’s repeated claim, at least 24 times, is that he used America’s trade deal as the negotiating card to broker peace between India and Pakistan. And in face of these claims our Prime Minister has been mute. We will raise this issue,” he added.

There was speculation that the Trinamool Congress could skip the meeting, but the party’s national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee was present. Sources said that Mr. Banerjee questioned why the Intelligence Bureau chief Tapan Deka got an extension even though the J&K Lt. Governor himself admitted that “intelligence failure” led to the terror attack.

The meeting began with Mr. Kharge’s presenting a brief outline on what the Opposition expected from the government during the Monsoon Session of Parliament. He said that the “foreign policy failure” in the context of the Pahalgam terror attack needs to be addressed. Mr. Gandhi, in a very brief intervention, said that India’s “recent failures in foreign policy is intricately connected to the Pahalgam terror attack”. During this discussion, Mr. Tiwari said the Opposition will also raise India’s stand on “Israel’s brutal and persistent attack on Gaza”.

“We expect the Prime Minister to be present during the debate on these issues,” Mr. Tiwari added.

Several parties also raised the issue of the impending delimitation, which is of deep concern to the Southern States that are anticipating a possible reduction in seats in Parliament because of the exercise.

CPI general secretary D. Raja flagged Mr. Gandhi’s recent remarks equating the CPI(M) and RSS. According to sources, he said leaders should not raise statements that “create conflict” among the INDIA bloc constituents and “confusion among the people”.

Jharkhand Mukti Morcha leader and Chief Minister of Jharkhand Hemant Soren also participated.