The political row over the Narendra Modi government’s handling of Operation Sindoor intensified on Tuesday, with Congress leader Pawan Khera launching a fresh salvo at the Centre, accusing it of “reckless abandon” and “diplomatic blunders” at a time of India-Pakistan conflict.

Khera, who is the Congress’s media and publicity department chairperson, posted a detailed statement on X, asking a string of pointed questions and demanding an all-party meeting and a special session of Parliament to discuss the matter.

“At a time when the nation stood united in grief and our borders are facing heightened security tensions, the ruling BJP behaves with shocking immaturity and reckless abandon,” Khera wrote.

“We, as a responsible opposition, have always stood firmly with our armed forces, but we cannot and will not remain silent when the government fails the very people it is sworn to protect,” he added.

Among the questions posed by Khera were: Why was Pakistan allegedly informed about the operation before Indian civilians in vulnerable areas like Poonch? Did this tip-off allow key terror masterminds like Masood Azhar and Hafiz Saeed to escape? How many terrorists managed to flee, and how much damage did this cause to India's national security?

The Congress has been escalating its offensive since the government announced a ceasefire following Operation Sindoor, a military response to the deadly April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam that claimed 26 civilian lives.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge also echoed Khera’s questions on X, stating that India stood isolated on the global stage despite Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s frequent foreign visits.

“In the last 11 years, Prime Minister Modi has undertaken 151 foreign trips, visiting 72 countries, including 10 visits to the United States. Yet, when India needed international support to expose Pakistan’s role in cross-border terrorism, not a single country stood with us,” Kharge wrote.

He also flagged the $1.4 billion IMF bailout for Pakistan as a failure of Indian diplomacy, and raised concerns over the sudden declaration of a ceasefire during counter-terror operations.

The Congress chief accused PM Modi of evading public accountability, citing former US President Donald Trump’s claim that he had brokered the ceasefire between India and Pakistan.

“While our armed forces were engaged in anti-terror operations, a sudden ceasefire was declared. The entire country stood behind our forces. Yet, the Prime Minister chose to remain silent on Trump’s statements, and continued posing for photographs abroad rather than explaining the truth to the people,” he added.

These questions come days after Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi questioned why Pakistan was allegedly alerted before civilians in Indian border areas were informed.

The controversy gained momentum over the weekend when Rahul Gandhi shared a video clip of External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar telling reporters, “At the start of the operation, we have sent a message to Pakistan, saying we are striking at infrastructure and we are not striking at the military, so the military has an option of standing out and not interfering.”

Gandhi wrote, “Informing Pakistan at the start of our attack was a crime. EAM has publicly admitted that GOI did it. Who authorised it? How many aircraft did our airforce lose as a result?”

On Monday, Gandhi doubled down, saying, “EAM Jaishankar’s silence isn’t just telling — it’s damning. So I’ll ask again: How many Indian aircraft did we lose because Pakistan knew?”

The external affairs ministry asserted that Jaishankar’s remark had been misrepresented.

“EAM had stated that we had warned Pakistan 'at the start', which is clearly the early phase after Operation Sindoor’s commencement. This is being falsely represented as being before the commencement. This utter misrepresentation of facts is being called out,” the ministry said.

On Monday, BJP IT Cell chief Amit Malviya reposted a May 11 statement by Army CGMO Lt Gen Rajiv Ghai and urged Gandhi to “desist from distorting facts.”

BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla also pointed out that Gandhi’s remarks were being played on Pakistan-based media.

“Rahul Gandhi and Pakistan speak the same language,” he wrote on X, accusing the Congress leader of jeopardising India’s national interest for political gain.

“The BJP has always stood firmly behind our armed forces and national security. It is unfortunate that the Congress party continues to lower political discourse by spreading misinformation,” Poonawalla added.

The debate stems from India’s retaliatory strike under Operation Sindoor following the Pahalgam attack, which targeted terrorist infrastructure across the border.