Venugopal demands privilege motion against Defence Minister Singh over 'Op Sindoor' remarks

New Delhi, June 30 (IANS) Congress General Secretary and MP, K.C. Venugopal, on Tuesday wrote to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla requesting that a privilege motion be taken up against Defence Minister Rajnath Singh for allegedly misleading the House on the casualties sustained by the Indian Armed Forces during 'Operation Sindoor'.

"Notice of question of privilege under Rule 223 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in Lok Sabha against the Minister of Defence for having misled the House," Venugopal wrote in the letter to the Speaker.

The controversy over Defence Minister Rajnath Singh's statement over "no soldiers" death in the Parliament, days after 'Operation Sindoor', started after six martyred jawans were immortalised by inscribing their names on the National War Memorial in the national Capital on Monday. This marked the first public revelation of the names of the armed forces jawans who laid down their lives for the nation in 'Operation Sindoor'.

The Congress trained guns at the Centre and the Defence Minister, as it claimed that the latter tried to gloss over the supreme sacrifice of soldiers during 'Operation Sindoor', thus not giving them the respect and honour that the martyrs deserved.

Speaking about the Parliament address of the Defence Minister, Venugopal said, "In the debate in Lok Sabha on Operation Sindoor, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh lied to the people of India. It was a straightforward, clear-cut lie -- to mislead the House."

"How could he, in July 2025, say that no Indian soldier was martyred, and then a year later the forces announce that we have lost 6 jawans? It is a grave insult to the 6 martyrs, their families and the entire armed forces that the people of India were not told of their bravery and ultimate sacrifice. They died in service of our nation, while defending it against our enemies, and the so-called nationalist Government simply lied about their martyrdom," the Congress MP said.

Venugopal asserted that if a Minister misleads the House or withholds information, it "constitutes a breach of privilege, amounting to contempt of the House", which he described as a "well-established norm".

Opposition leaders have accused the Centre of deliberately misleading Parliament and demanded Rajnath Singh's resignation.

The Ministry of Defence firmly rejected these allegations as factually incorrect and warned against politicising sensitive military matters.

The Ministry clarified that this statement was taken out of context. The Ministry explained that he was specifically countering a false, viral rumour spreading online that Indian Air Force pilots had been shot down, rather than denying ground casualties.

The six brave soldiers martyred in 'Operation Sindoor' include Subedar Major Pawan Kumar, Rifleman Sunil Kumar, Lance Naik Dinesh Kumar, Agniveer Murali Naik, Havildar Sunil Kumar Singh, and Indian Air Force Sergeant Surendra Kumar.

Five of these personnel belonged to the Indian Army, while one belonged to the Indian Air Force.

Their names are being inscribed at the National War Memorial to ensure that their supreme sacrifice remains alive in the nation's memory forever.