Opposition parties staged a walkout in Rajya Sabha on Wednesday (July 30, 2025) evening just as Home Minister Amit Shah rose to speak in conclusion of the debate on Operation Sindoor in the Upper House, in protest against Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s absence.

Congress president and Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge said that it was an insult to the Upper House that the Prime Minister, despite being in Parliament, refused to come.

Parliament Monsoon session Day 8 Highlights | July 30, 2025

“We had hoped that after 16 hours of debate in this House, where several questions were raised, many of which were directed at the Prime Minister, that he would make an appearance in the House. Prime Minister’s absence in the House, even though he is present here (in Parliament), is an insult to this house,” Mr. Kharge said.

Deputy Chairman Harvinash said that the rules allow the government to decide on who should respond to the debate, and this was conveyed during the Business Advisory Committee Meeting of the Upper House. When Mr. Shah rose to speak, the Opposition members walked towards the front row, chanting, “Where is PM?”

All Opposition parties unanimously questioned the lack of an allegedly direct response from the government on U.S. President Donald Trump’s repeated claims on brokering peace between India and Pakistan. RJD MP Manoj Kumar Jha demanded that the House move a resolution condemning Mr. Trump’s repeated remarks. “I propose that a resolution be moved, saying that this House unilaterally condemns the repeated statement of American President Donald Trump and declares him to be the greatest liar of the century,” he said.

CPI(M) MP John Brittas pointed out that Mr. Modi spoke for over 100 minutes in Lok Sabha but made no reference to Mr. Trump. “Is he scared? A comedian turned President while he was in the White House had the guts to speak up to Mr. Trump, but our Prime Minister was laughing with him while the U.S. was poking us with tariffs,” he said.

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut questioned why India declared a ceasefire ‘despite having the upper hand’. “What did we get in return for the ceasefire? If not Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (POK), we should have asked for Kulbhushan Jadhav, who is languishing in a Pakistani jail for the last 15 years,” he said.

Criticism against Defence Ministry

Samajwadi Party MP Javed Ali Khan said that Defence Minister Rajnath Singh listed questions that Opposition parties should have asked of the government, but his Ministry was running away from answering any questions. “Monday is the designated day for the Defence Ministry to answer questions. Two Mondays have passed since the beginning of this session. Not a single starred or unstarred question posed to the Defence Ministry has been admitted so far,” he said.

CPI MP P. Sandosh Kumar said that after Operation Sindoor, the government was now on “Operation Silence”.

NCP (Sharad Pawar) MP Fauzia Khan said, “The Defence Minister said that Operation Sindoor has not ended, we have only paused it. It is only a comma and not a full stop. When will they put the full stop? One of their (BJP) Chief Ministers had claimed that the government will take over Pakistan Occupied Kashmir within six months of coming to power. Then why didn’t they do it?”

Earlier, SP MP Jaya Bachchan had questioned the government’s decision to name the strike against Pakistan as Operation Sindoor. “I would like to congratulate you… you have hired writers who come up with grand names. You called it “Operation Sindoor”, but the real sindoor (vermilion) was wiped off the foreheads of the women who lost their husbands,” she said.