New Delhi: Sixteen opposition parties of the INDIA alliance came together on Tuesday (June 3) to pen a joint letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi demanding a special session of parliament to discuss the developments following the Pahalgam terror attack, Operation Sindoor, the military conflict with Pakistan and subsequent events. The letter comes amid calls for a special session of parliament to be convened after the multi-party delegations, sent abroad as part of the government’s diplomatic outreach, return to the country. While 16 parties have come on board, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is expected to write a separate letter and the NCP (SP) has distanced itself from the demand.What does the letter say?The Wire has learnt that the letter refers to “serious questions” facing the nation about the attack, conflict, killing of civilians in Poonch, Uri, Rajouri and the ceasefire announcement, and the “implications on our national security and foreign policy”. The letter also highlights that the opposition has supported the government’s efforts to engage with the international community on India’s position and that the government has “briefed foreign nations and the media but not the parliament”.The Wire had reported last week that the opposition members of the INDIA bloc are working on making a concerted demand for a special session of parliament.Sources in the Congress said that after the two letters sent by both LoPs, Gandhi wanted the letter to the prime minister to be sent in coordination with all other opposition parties, and not by the Congress alone.“[Gandhi] reached out to Akhilesh Yadav, Abhishek Banerjee and Aditya Thackeray. Other top leaders including K.C. Venugopal and deputy leader in Lok Sabha Gaurav Gogoi followed up with some parties while Lok Sabha chief whips K. Suresh and Manickam Tagore reached out to others,” said a senior Congress leader.The decision to send the joint letter was announced on Tuesday after MPs from five parties – Congress, Samajwadi Party (SP), Trinamool Congress (TMC), Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and Shiv Sena (UBT) held a meeting in New Delhi. The sixteen parties who have signed the letter include Congress, SP, TMC, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), Shiv Sena (UBT), RJD, National Conference (NC), Communist Party of India (Marxist), Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), Communist Party of India, Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP), Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK), Kerala Congress, Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and CPI(Marxist-Lenninst). “Sixteen parties have written a letter to the prime minister demanding a special session of the parliament. The letter basically talks about Poonch, Uri, Rajouri and having a free and frank discussion in Parliament,” said Derek O’Brien, TMC parliamentary party leader in the Rajya Sabha.“The government is responsible to the parliament; the parliament is responsible to the people. That’s why we are demanding a special session of the parliament.”O’Brien said that the AAP is expected to send a separate letter to Modi making the same demand.Opposition MPs said that the letter was necessary as the government, after its diplomatic outreach with the seven multi-party delegations sent to 33 countries, should also discuss the aftermath of the Pahalgam terror attack in parliament.“After the terrorist attack in Pahalgam, the Congress Party and the opposition parties had given their full support to the government to take retaliatory action. The government should put forth its views on all issues ranging from Operation Sindoor to the ceasefire announced by the US, isolating Pakistan globally and rooting out terrorism,” said Congress MP Deepinder Hooda.Opposition MPs said that with US President Donald Trump continuing with his claims of having brokered the ceasefire with Pakistan and having used trade as leverage to bring back the two countries from the brink of a nuclear war, the government should inform the parliament about his claims.“You are telling the whole world but keeping India, its people and parliament in the dark. We want to know which nations supported us. Not even a single nation came out in support of India. This is worrisome,” said SP MP Ram Gopal Yadav.“We were unsuccessful on the diplomatic front, the armed forces have done their job and we congratulate them. But on the diplomatic front, the prime minister has visited so many countries for so many years and his so-called friend, US President Donald Trump, announced the ceasefire. This is worrisome for the world’s largest democracy. It appears that we are being forced to stop this. There needs to be a discussion on this. The country’s image has fallen because of Trump’s announcement and this needs to be discussed.”RJD MP Manoj Kumar Jha said that Trump had made 13 statements reiterating his mediation claims in 15 days. “Trump has made 13 statements in 15 days. This has hurt India as a community and as a nation. Who will give the message? Parliament. If parliament is called for this, we will speak in one language,” he said.Referring to Chief of Defence Staff Anil Chauhan’s admission in an interview to Bloomberg that India had suffered losses in the conflict, Jha said that the question is not on the number of losses.“I am not asking how many. I am asking where we will discuss it? In parliament. This is not a matter of government and opposition, it is a matter of accountability. Government is accountable to parliament and parliament is accountable to the people,” Jha added.Jha, who had written a separate letter to Modi on Monday, is one of several opposition leaders who have been reiterating the demand for a special session of parliament since the Pahalgam terror attack. Four separate letters have been sent till now including by leaders of opposition in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge respectively. The government however, is yet to heed to any such demand.“If a ceasefire was called on the suggestion of President Trump, then why can’t a special session be held even after repeated requests from the opposition? Should we go to President Trump for a special session? We will go to our prime minister,” said Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut.The MPs also highlighted that the letter has not been sent by the internal parliamentary parties of each political party, which typically handle parliamentary strategy and participation, but rather by the leaders of the parties themselves. O’Brien said that the Leaders of the Opposition in both Houses, Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge; TMC general secretary and Lok Sabha MP Abhishek Banerjee, SP president Akhilesh Yadav and Congress MPs Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and K.C. Venugopal have already signed the letter. “The rest of the MPs in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha will also be signing the letter in the next couple of days,” he said.AAP, NCP(SP) shy away from joint letterMeanwhile, two alliance members – the AAP and the NCP(SP) stayed away from this concerted demand. While the AAP is expected to write a separate letter, the call for a special session has not been supported by NCP (SP) supremo Sharad Pawar. Sources said to The Wire that the NCP(SP) feels that any parliament session would allow the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Union government to grandstand on the issue, with opposition members not being allowed to speak. With questions already being raised on how the BJP is handling the aftermath of Operation Sindoor, the party feels that it is not necessary to convene a special session of parliament.However, following Tuesday’s meeting, Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Raut said that NCP (SP) MP Supriya Sule is abroad as a part of the delegations, and he will take up the matter with Sharad Pawar when he is in Mumbai. “Sharad Pawar is also with us. Sule is out with the delegation. When I go to Mumbai I will speak to Pawar,” he said.The NCP (SP) on the other hand said that Pawar has already made his stand clear on the demand for a special session. “It has been made clear by Sharad Pawar himself that we don’t support the call for a special session of parliament on these issues as they are sensitive in nature. Instead, Pawar has suggested that there should be an all-party meeting,” said NCP (SP) national spokesperson Anish Gawande.