‘Not a single security personnel’: In Lok Sabha, Priyanka Gandhi quotes Pahalgam victim’s wife during Op Sindoor discussion

Priyanka Gandhi Vadra

Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Tuesday questioned the central government over security lapses during the terrorists’ attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam that claimed 26 lives.

Speaking in the Lok Sabha during a discussion on Operation Sindoor, Gandhi questioned, “When 26 citizens were killed in front of their family members, how and why did this happen?”

She further stated that the government had been actively promoting Kashmir as “safe for tourism”, however, the reality was far from different, and added that because of this narrative, many people went ahead and travelled to Kashmir.

Among the 26 people gunned down by terrorists was a Kanpur-based businessperson Shubham Dwivedi, who had travelled to Kashmir with his wife.

Quoting his wife, the Congress leader said, “When citizens were being killed one by one for an hour, there wasn’t single security personnel. I saw my world ending in front of my eyes, there was not a single security guard. Why was there no security there?”

Hitting out at the government over security lapses in Pahalgam, Priyanka Gandhi said that there was no mention of how the attack happened.

“Several things were discussed yesterday in the House. I was listening to the speeches. Defence minister Rajnath Singh gave 1-hour speech. We talked about Operation Sindoor, terrorism, security and history, but we forgot to discuss why and how this incident happened on April 22, 2025, in which 26 innocents were killed. What were they (terrorists) doing in the Baisaran Valley near Pahalgam?”

She also said the central government has no sense of accountability towards the citizens of the nation. "This government always tries to escape questions... The truth is that they have no place for the public in their heart. For them, everything is politics, publicity," she said.

Speaking in the Rajya Sabha today, Rajnath Singh said three terrorists involved in the Pahalgam attack have been killed by Indian forces. "I congratulate the forces for killing three terrorists who carried out Pahalgam terror attack in April. These are the terrorists who killed people in Pahalgam," the defence minister said.