Due to internal divisions in Congress, several INDIA bloc members are reportedly hesitant to endorse its stance on national security matters.
Published Jun 04, 2025 | 11:36 AM ⚊ Updated Jun 04, 2025 | 11:36 AM
INDIA bloc leaders speaking to media after the meeting.
Synopsis: A meeting of the Opposition INDIA bloc parties revealed internal divisions among the alliance partners. There is also a growing rift within the Congress, unsettling alliance partners.
A meeting of the Opposition INDIA bloc parties on Tuesday, 3 June, at the Constitution Club in New Delhi revealed internal divisions among the alliance partners.
Amid heightened political tensions and national security concerns, including the Pahalgam terror attack, Operation Sindoor, and the ceasefire with Pakistan, for which US President Donald Trump repeatedly claimed credit, the parties under the INDIA bloc have been pressing for a special session of Parliament to address these issues in detail.
The coordination meeting of the INDIA bloc parties was convened in response to continued demands by constituent parties.
The INDIA bloc, consisting of 37 parties including the Congress, DMK, Samajwadi Party (SP), Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), and Trinamool Congress (TMC), has over 20 parties with parliamentary representation. However, the meeting on Tuesday saw limited attendance.
Only a handful of representatives turned up for the meeting: Deepender Singh Hooda and Jairam Ramesh from Congress, Sanjay Raut from the Uddhav Thackeray faction of Shiv Sena, Manoj Jha from the Rashtriya Janata Dal, Ram Gopal Yadav from the SP, and Derek O’Brien from TMC.
Sanjay Raut stated that he had not received any official invitation to the meeting but attended after learning about it through other MPs. Notably, AAP was absent, reportedly due to ongoing tensions with Congress stemming from the Delhi Assembly elections.
Sources indicated that AAP has decided to sever ties with Congress going forward, which could affect the INDIA bloc’s functioning.
The DMK, a key player in the alliance, also did not participate. DMK MP MM Abdulla was in Delhi at the time, but sources claim the lack of a formal invitation to the party caused their absence. Several other alliance members, including Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK), Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) and Kerala Congress, reportedly did not receive invitations at all.
Sharad Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), instrumental in the formation of the INDIA bloc, also abstained. Pawar had earlier stated that a special session regarding Operation Sindoor was unnecessary and had urged full cooperation with the Union government. Consequently, no NCP representative attended the meeting.
After the meeting, when questioned by the press, Jairam Ramesh and Derek O’Brien said that 16 parties had signed a letter demanding a special session of Parliament but declined to name them, citing “individual reasons” for non-attendance.
Meanwhile, Congress is facing internal dissent over Operation Sindhoor. Party leaders like Shashi Tharoor and Salman Khurshid have openly praised India’s military action against Pakistan, while opposition leader Rahul Gandhi has continued to raise doubts about whether Indian warplanes were shot down by the Pakistani military.
This has led to a growing rift within the party, unsettling alliance partners. Due to these divisions, several INDIA bloc members are reportedly hesitant to endorse Congress’s stance on national security matters.
Apart from Tamil Nadu, INDIA bloc members are expected to face off against each other in upcoming state elections in Bihar and Kerala and other states. These developments are likely to deepen the existing cracks in the alliance.
Observers anticipate that the current rift will only widen in the coming weeks, casting doubts on the future cohesion and strategy of the INDIA bloc as national and regional political dynamics continue to evolve.
(Edited by Muhammed Fazil.)
