Pahalgam terror attack: Kharge, Rahul Gandhi speak to Amit Shah

AICC President and Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge, AICC Media Chairperson Pawan Khera, KPCC President and Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar, address a press conference at KPCC office, Queens Road, in Bengaluru on April 23, 2025.
| Photo Credit: K. Murali Kumar

Making an assertion about shunning partisan politics over Tuesday’s terror attack on tourists in Jammu & Kashmir’s Pahalgam, top Congress leaders including party president Mallikarjun Kharge and Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi spoke with Home Minister Amit Shah late on Tuesday evening.

Mr. Kharge, addressing the media on Wednesday, called the terror strike an attack on the Indian State and stated that the Congress Working Committee (CWC) will meet on Thursday morning to adopt a special resolution. Mr. Gandhi has cut short his U.S. visit and will be attending in person the CWC meeting in New Delhi tomorrow at 10.30 a.m., Congress communication chief Jairam Ramesh said in a post on X.

Pahalgam terror attack updates: April 23, 2025

The party’s political messaging has been to convey that it would back any action by the Narendra Modi government against the terror outfit responsible for the killings as well as against those “who masterminded the attacks”. The Congress also cancelled its pre-scheduled press conferences against the Modi government over the National Herald case.

“This is not a time for partisan politics. It is a moment for collective resolve to ensure justice for those who lost their lives and for their grieving families, by bringing the perpetrators of this terror attack to justice,” Mr Kharge said.

“Spoke with HM Amit Shah, J&K CM Omar Abdullah, and J&K PCC President Tariq Karra about the horrific Pahalgam terror attack. Received an update on the situation. The families of victims deserve justice and our fullest support,” Mr. Gandhi, who is on a visit to the U.S., said in a separate post on X.

Congress general secretary (organisation) K.C. Venugopal, who was in Srinagar to chair a meeting of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), paid his homage to the slain tourists at the PCR Hospital in J&K’s capital.

“The air was heavy with grief – families torn apart, innocent lives cut short, dreams extinguished before they could bloom. Standing there, amidst the pain and silence, one couldn’t help but feel the cruelty of terror and the unbearable weight it imposes on humanity. We must stand united, not only in mourning but also in our unflinching resolve against violence, against terror,” Mr. Venugopal said in a post on X.