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✍️ Written by Saket Suman India’s tryst with the West Asia crisis on Thursday completely ceased to be a question of distant war and became, more clearly than before, a test of state capacity, diplomatic balance and political credibility at home. The day’s developments showed a government trying to hold together three fronts at once. Keeping Indian citizens and seafarers alive in an active war zone, preventing a shipping and fuel shock from cascading into panic inside India, and preserving enough diplomatic space to speak to all sides while the conflict itself grows more dangerous and less predictable. Representational Image/File Photo Via Mayank Austen Soofi, @thedelhiwalla on X That larger picture sharpened as Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and made India’s position unusually explicit. As IndianRepublic.in reported , Modi said the safety and security of Indian nationals, along with “the need for unhi...

✍️ Written by Saket Suman Leader of the Opposition in India's Lower House of Parliament  Rahul Gandhi triggered a sharp political confrontation in Parliament after linking India’s energy security concerns arising from the West Asia war with questions about Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri’s past correspondence with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein , and prompted the government and the Speaker to accuse him of straying beyond the issue he had sought to raise. The exchange unfolded in the Lok Sabha after Rahul Gandhi sought permission to raise concerns about a reported LPG shortage and the wider energy implications of the ongoing war involving the United States, Israel and Iran, which has disrupted shipping and fuel flows through the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most critical oil transit routes. Representational Image Via INC India During his intervention, Rahul Gandhi warned that the conflict could trigger a major energy s...

✍️ Written by Saket Suman Leader of the Opposition in India's Lower House of Parliament Lok Sabha,  Rahul Gandhi  today mounted a wide-ranging attack on the government and  linked the widening West Asia war, India’s energy security and Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri’s past association with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, while questioning whether India’s oil policy is being influenced by Washington. Speaking during a parliamentary debate , Rahul Gandhi warned that the conflict could trigger serious economic repercussions for India because of its dependence on Gulf energy supplies and the vulnerability of the Strait of Hormuz , through which a large share of India’s oil and gas imports pass. File Photo: LoP RaGa “As everybody is aware, a war has broken out in the Middle East. The US, Israel and Iran are at war,” Rahul Gandhi told the House. “This war is going to have far-reaching consequences.” He said the conflict h...

✍️ Written by Saket Suman India’s political divide over the US–Israel–Iran war has sharpened as the Congress and Left parties have accused the Modi government of “silence” and “moral cowardice” over the killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei , while the government has simultaneously expanded high-level outreach to Gulf leaders , activated trade and energy contingency mechanisms , and reiterated that dialogue and diplomacy are the only viable path to restore regional stability. Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi, in an opinion piece in a mainstream daily, argued that New Delhi’s lack of a clear response to the assassination of Khamenei amounted to an “abdication” rather than neutrality and risked normalising targeted killings as instruments of statecraft.  File Photo; Via: LoP Raga She framed the killing of a sitting leader during a diplomatic process as a rupture in contemporary international relations and...

India’s political confrontation over protest, dissent and democratic rights has further intensified this week after Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi accused the Narendra Modi government of criminalising peaceful protest. This drew sharp rebuttals from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders and has now deepened an already volatile national debate which is unfolding alongside recent arrests linked to demonstrations at the India AI Impact Summit. File Photo of Rahul Gandhi; Via: Jairam Ramesh In a post on X written in Hindi , Rahul Gandhi said that under what he described as a “compromised PM,” peaceful dissent had been turned into the “biggest crime,” alleging that India was being pushed toward a system where disagreement is labelled “anti-national” and questioning authority treated as conspiracy.  “Peaceful protest is not a crime — it is the soul of democracy,” Rahul Gandhi wrote, and argued that democracy becomes stronger when governments “listen to criticism, respond a...

A day after a brief shirtless protest disrupted the India AI Impact Summit 2026 at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi, the Indian National Congress has publicly backed the demonstrators and escalated a political confrontation over the limits of protest at high-profile international events and the substance of India’s trade policy. Protest Screengrab; Via: Ranoj Pegu On February 20, a group of 10 to 15 young men linked to the Indian Youth Congress (IYC), the youth wing of the Congress party, entered Hall No. 5 of the summit venue using valid entry passes or QR codes, according to police statements.  Inside the exhibition hall, they removed white T-shirts printed with red graphics featuring Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s face and the words “PM IS COMPROMISED,” held them aloft like placards and chanted slogans targeting the Prime Minister and his government.  Compromised प्रधानमंत्री के खिलाफ युवाओं का 'हल्ला बोल' ✊ pic.twitter.com/FVmGjIuPYn — Congress (@INCIndia) Febr...

India’s Parliament saw a fresh political clash on Wednesday, February 11, after Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi used the Lok Sabha debate on the Union Budget 2026–27 to attack the India–US interim trade deal and allege that it compromises India’s interests on data, energy security and farming. This prompted the government to accuse him of making unsubstantiated claims and to signal action to remove or expunge parts of his remarks from the House record. Image Source: Who_Care on X Speaking during the Budget discussion, Rahul Gandhi argued that India is entering an era of heightened geopolitical conflict and “energy and financial weaponisation,” and said the country’s core strengths—its people, the data they generate, food supply and energy—must be protected.  He alleged that the interim deal represented a “wholesale surrender,” claiming it involved “free data flow” to the United States, no data localisation, limits on digital taxation, and no requirement for source code disclo...

Opposition parties led by the Congress on Tuesday submitted a formal notice seeking the removal of Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla , escalating an ongoing confrontation with the government over the conduct of parliamentary proceedings during the Budget Session. The Lok Sabha was adjourned till 2 p.m. amid continued disruptions. Representational Collage, Via: Alok Sharma Chief Whip of the Congress in the Lok Sabha Kodikunnil Suresh and party Whip Mohammed Jawed Ahmed handed over the notice to Lok Sabha Secretary-General Utpal Kumar Singh, sources confirmed. The motion has been moved under Article 94(c) of the Constitution, which allows a resolution for the removal of the Speaker to be submitted with a mandatory 14-day notice period. Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi said the notice was submitted at 1:14 p.m. and accused the Speaker of conducting House business in a “blatantly partisan manner.”  He said Opposition parties had repeatedly raised concerns that the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok...

India’s Budget Session entered a fresh day of disruption on Monday, February 9, 2026, with the Lok Sabha adjourned for the day amid a continuing confrontation between the government and the Opposition over Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi ’s insistence that he be allowed to speak before the general discussion on the Union Budget 2026-27 begins.  The stand-off unfolded as Parliament was scheduled to start its first full round of debate on the budget presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on February 1, even as the Rajya Sabha proceeded with a day-long discussion on budget priorities, fiscal policy and competing claims about growth, jobs and the distribution of central resources among States. File Photo of LoP RaGa; Via: Bharat Jodo on X The Lok Sabha opened with Speaker Om Birla congratulating India’s Under-19 men’s cricket team for its World Cup victory before Question Hour began, but proceedings were quickly interrupted by Opposition sloganeering demanding that Rahul G...