New Delhi, June 3 (IANS) Fissures within the INDIA Bloc became evident on Tuesday as several key allies, including the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP-SP), chose to stay away from a crucial opposition meeting held at Delhi’s Constitution Club.

The gathering was convened to discuss the joint demand for a special session of Parliament in the wake of the Pahalgam terror attack and Operation Sindoor.

While 16 opposition parties have jointly signed a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging a special session, the absence of some signatories from the meeting raised questions about internal cohesion.

Trinamool Congress MP Derek O’Brien confirmed that AAP had opted out of the meeting, although it had separately written to the Prime Minister supporting the demand for a special session.

According to sources, AAP’s decision to stay away stemmed from its reluctance to share the stage with the Congress party, with whom it has had a strained relationship in recent months.

Similarly, leaders from the Left parties, which are signatories to the joint letter, also skipped the meeting. Their absence, sources suggest, may be linked to the presence of Trinamool Congress representatives at the event — a party with which the Left shares a contentious political history in West Bengal.

Sharad Pawar, chief of the NCP (SP), had already distanced himself from the demand for a special session. He publicly stated his opposition to discussing sensitive national security issues such as Operation Sindoor and the Pahalgam attack in an open parliamentary forum.

Despite these absences, the meeting saw participation from senior leaders such as Derek O’Brien (TMC), Jairam Ramesh (Congress), Ram Gopal Yadav (SP), Deepender Singh Hooda (Congress), Manoj Jha (RJD) and Sanjay Raut (Shiv Sena UBT).

The joint letter sent to Prime Minister Modi was signed by Congress, SP, TMC, DMK, Shiv Sena (UBT), RJD, J&K National Conference, CPI(M), IUML, CPI, RSP, JMM, VCK, Kerala Congress, MDMK, and CPI(ML), Trinamool MP Derek O’Brien said.

Earlier, over 200 Lok Sabha MPs had also signed a letter urging the Prime Minister to convene a special session to deliberate on the Pahalgam terror attack and the government’s subsequent response through Operation Sindoor.

Top opposition leaders, including Rahul Gandhi and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, had previously sent individual letters to the Prime Minister reiterating the same demand.

–IANS

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