AIMIM leader and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi on Thursday voiced strong criticism after he was apparently told that his party would be excluded from the all-party meeting convened by the Centre in response to the terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam in which at least 26 people, mostly tourists, were gunned down.
Owaisi accused the government of selectively inviting only those parties with a larger presence in Parliament.
He recounted a conversation with Kiren Rijiju in which the Union minister for parliamentary affairs explained to him that only parties with a minimum of five to 10 MPs “might” be included to keep the meeting from running “too long”.
“When I asked why not parties with fewer MPs, he said that the meeting would get too long,” Owaisi wrote on X. “When I asked ‘What about us, the smaller parties?’ He joked that my voice is anyway too loud.”
The Hyderabad MP emphasised that such a meeting should be inclusive, especially given the gravity of the issue.
“This is not a BJP’s or another party’s internal meeting, it is an all party meeting to send a strong and united message against terrorism & those countries that harbour terrorists. Can’t PM Narendra Modi spend an extra hour to hear the concerns of all parties? ” he asked.
Owaisi also pointed out that no party currently holds an outright majority, and that all MPs, regardless of party size, were elected by the people.
“Your own party does not have a majority. Whether it is a party with 1 MP or a 100, they were both elected by Indians and deserve to be heard on such an important matter. This is not a political issue, it is a national issue. Everyone must be heard.,” he stressed.
He urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to ensure that all parties represented in Parliament are included in the discussions.
“I urge PM Narendra Modi to make this a real ALL Party Meeting, every party with an MP in Parliament must be invited.”
Defence minister Rajnath Singh and Union home minister Amit Shah are expected to brief the leaders at the meeting, news agencies quoted official sources as saying.
Singh will chair the meeting.
With the government announcing a host of measures targeting Pakistan in the aftermath of the Pahalgam attack, external affairs minister S. Jaishankar may also speak at the meeting, it was reported.
The decision to call an all-party meeting was taken on Wednesday, with Singh and Shah reaching out to various parties.
Leaders of the Opposition in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge respectively, will attend the all-party meeting on Thursday evening, Congress sources were quoted as saying by PTI.
The Congress also on Thursday said it expects PM Modi to chair the all-party meeting and take all political parties into confidence as well as build a collective resolve.
"Considering the extreme seriousness of the issue and the mood of the nation, the Indian National Congress expects the PM to chair the All-Party meeting scheduled for 6 PM today and take all political parties into confidence and build a collective resolve," said Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh.
