Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Tuesday launched a scathing attack on the Narendra Modi-led government in the Lok Sabha, accusing it of shirking responsibility for major internal security failures and turning national tragedies into political tools. Her remarks came during a special discussion on Operation Sindoor in Parliament, where she questioned the ruling BJP's handling of the Pahalgam terror attack.
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra hit out at what she called a “credit-only” model of leadership by the Prime Minister. “The Prime Minister wants to take credit for Operation Sindoor. He takes credit for Olympic medals too. But leadership is not just about claiming success, it’s also about accepting responsibility when things go wrong,” she said.
In addition, she demanded to know how such a large-scale attack was allowed to occur in a region that the government had publicly claimed was safe and free of terrorism. “You said Kashmir is peaceful, you told people to go there and invest, to buy land. But what was the security arrangement for these tourists?”she asked. “Why were there no soldiers, no police? No medical aid or first response teams? Those people were left to God’s mercy," she added.
Highlighting the human cost of the attack, Vadra spoke of Shubham Dwivedi, one of the victims from Kanpur. Quoting his wife, she recounted the horror. “She said for nearly one hour while the terrorists were killing people, there was not a single soldier or guard in sight. She said, ‘Desh ne, sarkar ne humein wahan anaath chhod diya tha’, the country and the government abandoned us like orphans,”Vadra said.
The Wayanad MP also demanded an explanation for the delay in officially designating The Resistance Front (TRF), the group that claimed responsibility for the attack, as a terrorist organisation. “TRF was formed in 2019. It carried out 25 attacks between 2020 and 2025, killed 41 security personnel and 27 civilians, and injured dozens. But the Indian government only declared it a terrorist outfit in 2023. Why did it take three years? Was the government unaware or simply unbothered?”she asked.
The senior Congress leader also raised questions about the "failure of India’s intelligence agencies" to preempt the attack, which she said had links to planning in Pakistan. “Is this not a failure of our agencies? Were they not aware of what was being planned? Who will take responsibility? Did the IB chief resign? The Home Minister? Forget resigning, did anyone even accept fault?”
Referencing past terror incidents, Vadra drew a sharp contrast between the current government and the UPA era. She pointed out that following the 2008 Mumbai attacks, both the Union Home Minister and the Maharashtra Chief Minister had resigned, setting a precedent of accountability. “That was real responsibility, towards the people and the country,”said Vadra. “But today, when people ask questions, they are laughed at," she added.
Vadra accused Home Minister Amit Shah of treating serious questions with levity, saying, “When my colleague Gaurav Gogoi asked yesterday whether the Home Minister bears no responsibility, the Defence Minister nodded quietly. But the Home Minister was laughing. Laughing.”
“The Home Minister spoke about my mother’s tears. I want to respond. My mother cried when my father was killed by terrorists. So today, when I speak about the 26 people who died in Pahalgam, I do so because I understand their families’ pain. We have lived that pain,” said Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.
She ended her speech by reading out the names of the victims of the Pahalgam attack. When some members of the Treasury benches interjected by stating that the victims were Hindus, Vadra shut down the communal framing. “They were Indians. ‘Bharatiye the.’ Don’t reduce this to religion,” she said firmly.
“You keep talking about history, I’m talking about the present. You bring up my entire family every time. But you’ve been in power for 11 years. Take responsibility,” she said. “This government has no space in its heart for the public. Everything is politics. Everything is publicity," she added.
