New Delhi

Congress MP Deepender Singh Hooda on Tuesday said that the country wants to know why the Centre had agreed upon a ceasefire with Pakistan when it was on its "knees" during Operation Sindoor. He claimed that the Centre has ruined an opportunity to take back Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir.

"When our army had brought Pakistan to its knees, then on what terms was the ceasefire agreed upon? The country wants to know," Hooda told reporters.

"When Pakistan was already on its knees, there could not have been a better opportunity than this to take back PoK...The country wants to know why this government backed off and why a ceasefire was agreed upon," he said.

The Congress MP said that he raised in the Lok Sabha the question of what the purpose of India playing against Pakistan in the Asia Cup 2025 is when Operation Sindoor is going on.

Meanwhile, calling the April 22 Pahalgam attack an "intelligence failure", Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge, on Tuesday called on Home Minister Amit Shah to take responsibility for the attack.

Speaking during the debate on Operation Sindoor in the Upper House, Kharge raised questions on the accountability of the government, further claiming repeated intelligence lapses in the country since the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came to rule.

"Since the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has come to rule, there have been attacks in the country, and yet there has been no action taken on it. Uri and Pathankot attack in 2016, the Pulawama attack in 2019 and now the Pahalgam attack in 2025. All these incidents have made it clear that there has been a recurring intelligence failure and a failure in the national security... I want to ask the Home Minister on who is taking accountability for this? What has the government done to rectify the mistakes in the intelligence failures? If you are responsible, vacate your post. If no, what action has the Prime Minister been taking...?" Kharge said.

The LoP further stated that it was not the Jammu Kashmir Lieutenant Governor (LG) Manoj Sinha who was supposed to take responsibility for the Pahalgam attack being a "security failure", but should have been the Home Minister Amit Shah.

Earlier today, Congress MP Imran Pratapgarhi accused the BJP-led Central government of putting everything on Congress' shoulders to save themselves from answering anything related to the April 22 Pahalgam attack and India's response through Operation Sindoor.

Speaking to ANI, Pratapgarhi questioned how the terrorists entered Pahalgam, where there were thousands of tourists.

"I will praise and appreciate the security forces of the country for the terrorists who have been killed. But the question remains, how did those terrorists come to such an important place like Pahalgam, where there were thousands of tourists?... Who speaks the language of Pakistan? Who went to eat biryani in Pakistan without an invitation?" he said.

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"If you go into the past, Home Minister, there are many questions that you will have to answer. And who is ready to play cricket in this situation?... You put the responsibility on the shoulders of Congress to save yourself from everything..." Imran Pratapgarhi said.