The TMC and the BJP had a heated exchange before the Bengal Assembly passed a resolution condemning the Pahalgam terror attack — and praised the military valour of Operation Sindoor without naming it — as chief minister Mamata Banerjee sharply questioned the saffron regime on “intelligence failure”.

During the discussion on Tuesday on the resolution brought by Speaker Biman Banerjee, a belligerent Mamata held the Narendra Modi government responsible for Pahalgam and Pulwama attacks, prompting BJP MLAs to raise angry slogans in the House and to issue heated statements to the media outside.

“You (the BJP-led Centre) should resign... and go, they failed monumentally in providing security to the people of the nation.... They are an ill-educated, bigoted party of... liars...,” said Mamata.

Mamata said the BJP’s Suvendu Adhikari was a shame to the nation. He countered, saying Mamata was a shame to the state.

“(Pahalgam was a case of)... Complete intelligence failure... colossal lapses. Why the total absence of security forces... despite lakhs being stationed in Jammu and Kashmir, at a place like Pahalgam?” she asked, going on to accuse Modi and his party of prioritising the politicisation of the valour of India’s armed forces to win elections. “Why was not a single terrorist caught and how did such an attack happen at all in such a high-security zone?”

“Every time an election approaches, a Pulwama has to be done — that should not happen,” she said.

When BJP MLA Agnimitra Paul asked why Mamata had demanded evidence of the 2019 Balakot air strike, the chief minister said she had no regrets and would do it again.

Stressing terror has no religion, Mamata sympathised with those killed in Pahalgam and reiterated her demand for a special session of Parliament on the terror attack and Operation Sindoor.

She said the Bengal Assembly was the first House in the country to move such a resolution and hoped others would follow.

The resolution stated: “This House expresses its profound sense of shock and anguish at the barbaric and inhumane attack... in the Baisaran Valley of Jammu and Kashmir on April 22, 2025, resulting in the butchery of 26 innocent lives, including three from West Bengal.”

“This House commends the coordinated efforts of... the Indian Armed Forces in... destroying major terrorist infrastructures in Pakistan and POK and places on record its gratitude and appreciation for their relentless efforts,” it added. “...this House also commends the people of the country and especially Jammu and Kashmir for their extraordinary display of unity...”

Suggesting that the ceasefire before recapturing Pakistan-occupied Kashmir was a missed opportunity, Mamata said: “This was the perfect time to take control of POK.... Instead, Pakistan has been allowed in a UN committee on terror. They keep getting loans from the World Bank, IMF, ADB, instead of being cornered globally.... Our external affairs minister (S. Jaishankar) is a good man.... But is there a serious flaw in our diplomacy and foreign policy?”

“Prime Minister Modi is busy advertising himself... busy seeking votes instead of going to Poonch or Rajouri,” she added.

Mamata questioned how sensitive information on internal security was getting supplied to Pakistan, allegedly from sources linked to (BJP-ruled) Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh. Amid her 27-minute address, she stopped on several occasions to pick fights with BJP MLAs Paul and Suvendu Adhikari, apparently losing her temper on a couple of occasions as Speaker Banerjee struggled to restore order. While the BJP MLAs shouted and clapped "Modi! Modi!", Trinamool MLAs retorted with "Didi! Didi!" and "Mamata! Mamata!", while the Speaker urged restraint and adherence to decorum. "Keep crossing all limits of decency... keep shouting, trying to browbeat me. My lone voice is enough to drown out thousands of you.... I will ignore you, although not disrespect you," said the chief minister Earlier in the House, BJP MLA Manoj Oraon expressed dismay at how Modi was allegedly not being given enough credit for Operation Sindoor and hailed him as an avatar, presumably of Vishnu.

Privilege motion against Adhikari

Speaker Biman Banerjee later said a privilege motion against Nandigram MLA Adhikari — the eighth one in four years — had been submitted (by ministers Chandrima Bhattacharya, Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay, and Aroop Biswas) for consideration, condemning the leader of the Opposition's conduct. This happened after the BJP leader, in a communal rant during a media interaction outside the Assembly premises in the afternoon, falsely accused Mamata of "batting for Pakistan" in the House and of being the biggest admirer of Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.