Congress Distances Itself from Leaders’ Remarks on Pahalgam Attack, Emphasizes Official Stance

Congress Distances Itself from Leaders: The Congress, however, continued to say on Monday that the differing views and opinions expressed by Congress leaders were irrelevant to the party's stand on the Pahalgam terror strike and would be represented only by Congress' party chief, Mallikarjun Kharge, leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, and the views of authorised AICC office-bearers.

“The Congress Working Committee (CWC) had met on April 24th 2025 and passed a resolution on the brutal terror attack on tourists in Pahalgam two days earlier. Thereafter on April 25th 2025 the Congress President and the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha attended the all-party meeting and put forward the party's views. Some Congress leaders have been speaking to the media. They speak for themselves and do not reflect the INC's views,” Congress’ communications chief Jairam Ramesh said in a post on X.

“There should be absolutely no doubt whatsoever at this most sensitive of times that the CWC resolution, the views expressed by Shri Mallikarjun Kharge and Shri Rahul Gandhi and the views of authorised AICC office-bearers ALONE represent the position of the INC,” he added.

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The Pahalgam attack position of Ramesh came out the day after Congress lawmaker Shashi Tharoor said Sunday that no country can ever have a foolproof 100 percent intelligence and maintained that intelligence failure should not be the main focus now.

Congress leaders' remark on Pahalgam attack

Tharoor cited the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, and said, "Obviously, there was no full proof intelligence. There was some failure... But we have got the example of Israel, the world's best intelligence services according to everybody, which were taken by surprise on October 7, just two years ago. It seems to me, just as Israel is waiting till the end of the war before they demand accountability, similarly, I think we too should see the present crisis through and then demand accountability from the government.”

“No country can ever have a foolproof 100% intelligence. We will never know about the various terror attacks that were successfully thwarted. We only get to know about the ones that we failed to thwart. This is normal in any nation. There were failures, I agree, but that should not be our main focus right now..." Tharoor added.

Meanwhile, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday strongly condemned the comments made by senior opposition leaders after the Pahalgam terror attack, describing as "the height of insensitivity." Taking the floor, BJP lawmaker Ravi Shankar Prasad questioned Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge's leadership and urged them to rein in their party leaders and take action as appropriate against this issue.

Addressing a press conference at the BJP headquarters in New Delhi, Prasad said, “We acknowledge that both Congress leaders, Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge, have extended support to the government. This makes a mature democracy stronger. However, a few senior Congress leaders are making remarks that have unfortunately become a pattern.” He specifically referred to statements made by Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah, Robert Vadra and Congress leaders Vijay Wadettiwar and Mani Shankar Aiyar, saying such statements are being used by Pakistan against India to make it look weak.

On April 22, terrorists fired on the tourist spot in Pahalgam, South Kashmir, killing at least 26 people, mostly tourists, and injuring several others. Eyewitness accounts and victims' families disclosed that the attackers checked the religion of their prey with intent before firing at them.

The political tussle became fiercer after Congress leaders, including Karnataka minister RB Timmapur and Maharashtra legislator Vijay Wadettiwar, examined the narrative with the attackers listening to the religion of tourists. Wadettiwar said, “The government should take responsibility for the Pahalgam terrorist attack. They are saying that terrorists killed people after asking them about their religion. Do terrorists have time for all this? Some people say that this did not happen. Terrorists have no caste or religion. Catch those who are responsible and take action. This is the sentiment of the country.”

However, Wadettiwar later concurred that “some terrorists asked about caste and religion, some did not.” “If they asked, they intended to make two communities fight based on religion and harm the country. Terrorists asking them (tourists) to recite Kalma, it shows that Pakistan's politics is behind this to harm the country. This should not happen. There should be no attempt to divide Hindus and Muslims on this,” he said in a video message.

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On April 26, Siddaramaiah also opened his mouth on inadequacies in security, saying that even more doors should have been installed. “The central government itself has admitted the security failure in the Kashmir terror attack incident… More security should have been provided at a place visited by tourists in large numbers. We are not in favour of war; an environment should be created where people can live peacefully. The central government should increase security to ensure peace in Kashmir,” he posted on X (formerly Twitter).

Prasad harshly criticized those statements, mentioning that the own families of the victims have come out in public with communal targeting and calling the comments of Congress leaders "deeply insensitive." He focusses also on Robert Vadra for his post about Muslims "feeling weakened and speculates Mani Shankar Aiyar on earlier recollections such as Partition and 1971 Indo-Pak war with the recent attacks related to Pahalgam.

Questioning the Congress leadership, Prasad asked, “Are the statements by Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge expressing support to the government only pro forma? Are their party leaders being given a free hand to say anything without consequence? These irresponsible remarks are being misused in Pakistan. Are Congress leaders willfully trying to defame the country?”

In short, it was an attack against Samajwadi Party (SP) MP Akhilesh Yadav whereby he said that one's distance was witnessed from the family of a victim during condolence visit. "No relation" should be the comment that can consider this distance. He further rebuked Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Saurabh Bharadwaj for opposing the suspension of the Indus Water Treaty, implying it to be insensitive amid heightened tensions.

Answering reporters' questions, Prasad also targeted Kharge because he raked up the issue of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's absence during the all-party meeting called after the Pahalgam attack. “Ministers of Defence, Home, Foreign Affairs and Finance were all present at the meeting. I know Kharge is bothered by PM Modi, but is it appropriate to bring such issues up at a time like this?” he remarked.

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