Operation Sindoor: Congress Demands Rajnath Singh’s Resignation Over Soldier Death Disclosure
India’s opposition intensifies criticism after the government disclosed military casualties linked to the May 2025 conflict with Pakistan and rejected allegations of misleading parliament.
India’s opposition leaders criticise the government over disclosure of military casualties linked to Operation Sindoor.
New Delhi: India’s opposition party Congress has demanded the resignation of Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and increased pressure on the government over allegations that parliament was misled regarding military casualties during the May 2025 conflict with Pakistan.
The criticism followed the Indian government’s disclosure on June 26 of the names of six armed forces personnel who died during the conflict, referred to by New Delhi as “Operation Sindoor”. The names were added to the Roll of Honour on the National War Memorial website, marking the first official public disclosure of military casualties linked to that period.
Congress leaders questioned the delay in releasing the information and accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government of withholding details from the public and parliament.
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At a press conference, Chairperson of Congress’s Ex-servicemen Department, Colonel (retd) Rohit Chaudhry, and retired Wing Commander Anuma Acharya criticised the government’s handling of the issue and called for greater transparency. They accused the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of politicising the armed forces and demanded an apology from the prime minister.
Chaudhry alleged that the government delayed public disclosure of the personnel’s identities and questioned why the information became public months after the conflict.
Separately, Congress parliament member K.C. Venugopal sought privilege proceedings against Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, alleging that statements made in the Lok Sabha created a misleading impression regarding casualties during the conflict.
Venugopal argued that withholding or misrepresenting information in parliament could amount to a breach of parliamentary privilege and formally wrote to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla seeking action.
The Indian government rejected the allegations and maintained that it honoured the fallen personnel at the earliest appropriate stage.
According to Indian officials, remarks made by Rajnath Singh had been interpreted out of context and were intended to counter claims circulating at the time that Indian Air Force pilots had been killed during Operation Sindoor.
The controversy comes against the backdrop of wider political criticism faced by the Modi government following the military escalation and subsequent security debates.
The four-day conflict followed the April 22 attack in Pahalgam in Indian-administered Kashmir, which killed 26 people, mostly tourists. India blamed Pakistan for the incident, while Islamabad rejected the allegations and denied involvement.
Military tensions escalated after Indian air strikes and retaliatory military action between both countries before a ceasefire was reached on May 10.
