TMC chief Abhishek Banerjee slams Centre over Pahalgam assault; criticises ‘overseas coverage’

TMC chief Abhishek Banerjee slammed the Centre for “intelligence failure” within the Pahalgam terror assault and voiced concern over “steep decline” in India’s overseas coverage.

According to sources near the TMC nationwide common secretary, Mr. Banerjee raised the matter through the INDIA bloc’s on-line assembly, which was convened to agency up the joint Opposition technique for the Monsoon session of Parliament starting Monday.

“During the INDIA bloc meeting, Banerjee raised the Pahalgam issue. He said it was clearly intelligence failure. Even the governor has admitted the same. Then why was the IB chief given an extension? What was the compulsion?” a supply near the Diamond Harbour MP advised PTI after the assembly on Saturday (July 19, 20250.

He additionally alleged that Pegasus spyware and adware, as an alternative of getting used to fight terrorism, was getting used to intimidate opposition leaders.

“Pegasus is being used by the government to harass the opposition instead of using it to stop terrorism and nab terrorists,” the supply added.

Mr. Banerjee voiced concern over what he termed a “steep decline” in India’s overseas coverage over the previous decade, mentioning the absence of specific condemnation from ASEAN nations in opposition to Pakistan following the Pahalgam assault.

“In the meeting, Banerjee said the last 10-12 years of India’s foreign policy have witnessed a big decline. It is in bad shape. Why did no ASEAN country name Pakistan while condemning the dastardly Pahalgam attack?” the TMC chief is learnt to have mentioned through the digital meet.

He additionally criticised the Modi authorities’s communication technique after the phobia strike, saying Indians had been pressured to depend on U.S. President Donald Trump’s social media accounts for updates.

“Such is the sad state of affairs that people of India had to look to Donald Trump’s social media handles and accounts to get updates because they were kept in the dark by this government at the Centre,” the supply quoted Mr. Banerjee as saying.

He questioned the federal government’s choice to ship parliamentary delegations overseas to transient stakeholders whereas allegedly withholding data from residents at residence.

“After Pahalgam, MPs delegations were sent to various countries. What good did it do? How many countries came out in our support? Instead of briefing its own people, the Modi government sent MPs to brief stakeholders abroad. The government kept the people of India in the dark,” Mr. Banerjee mentioned, in keeping with the supply.

During the assembly, he additionally raised the problem of Special Intensive Revision, which he mentioned the BJP and EC had been utilizing as a type of “backdoor NRC”.

“Four months after the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, the BJP added 40 lakh voters in Maharashtra to win the assembly polls. They are trying a similar thing in Bihar. In Bengal, they are trying to remove genuine voters,” a supply near Mr. Banerjee mentioned.

Twenty-four events, together with the Congress, TMC, DMK, RJD, SP, NCP (Sharad Pawar), Shiv Sena (UBT), JMM, CPI-M, CPI, CPI-ML, Forward Bloc, IUML and Kerala Congress, participated within the deliberations.