Congress leader KC Venugopal on Tuesday moved a privilege notice against Defence Minister Rajnath Singh in the Lok Sabha, alleging that he misled the House by stating during last year’s debate on Operation Sindoor that no Indian soldier had been killed during the military operation.
In a letter to Speaker Om Birla, Venugopal referred to Singh’s statement in the Lok Sabha on July 28, 2025, during the discussion on the Pahalgam terror attack and Operation Sindoor.
“If you have to ask a question, ask whether any harm came to our brave soldiers during this operation,” Singh had said. “The answer to that is no.”
Venugopal argued that the government’s recent disclosure of the names of six military personnel killed during Operation Sindoor contradicted Singh’s statement.
On June 26, the names of five Indian Army personnel and one Indian Air Force staffer who were killed during the operation were published in the Roll of Honour section of the National War Memorial website. Their deaths had been previously acknowledged, and all six were conferred with gallantry awards in August 2025.
In his letter, Venugopal said that Singh’s statement in the House was “misleading and incorrect”.
He added: “It is well established that misleading the House or withholding information from the House by a minister on the floor of the House constitutes a breach of privilege and contempt of the House.”
After social media posts alleged that Singh had lied to Parliament, the Union government said on Saturday that the claims were “deliberately misleading and factually incorrect”.
The defence ministry said that several social media posts “selectively quoted an isolated portion” of Singh’s July 2025 speech in Parliament to falsely imply that the minister claimed that no Indian soldiers were killed during the operation.
It added that Singh’s remark was in response to an “entirely false” narrative on media outlets and on social media that Indian pilots had been lost during Operation Sindoor.
“It was in direct reference to this specific and mischievous narrative that the [defence minister] made the statement in question,” the ministry said. “His remarks were, therefore, a targeted and contextually specific response to a falsehood that was gaining dangerous traction at that moment.”
On May 7, 2025, the Indian military carried out strikes on what it claimed were terrorist camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in response to the Pahalgam terror attack, which had killed 26 persons on April 22, 2025. The two sides had reached an “understanding” to halt firing on May 10, 2025.
The six personnel whose names were published in the Roll of Honour section of the National War Memorial website were Subedar Major Pawan Kumar, Rifleman Sunil Kumar, Lance Naik Dinesh Kumar, Agniveer Murali Naik, Havildar Sunil Kumar Singh and Air Force Sergeant Surendra Kumar.
On June 27, the Integrated Defence Staff clarified that homage had been paid to the six personnel “at the earliest opportunity”, before the recent reports in the matter.
The military said that during a press conference on May 11, 2025, the director general of military operations had “paid solemn tribute to these brave soldiers and specifically acknowledged their sacrifice in the line of duty” during Operation Sindoor.
During the Army Day Parade on January 15, the Army chief had presented the Sena Medal (Gallantry) to the families of three of the personnel, the Integrated Defence Staff said in a statement. The Air Force chief had also done this in October at a ceremony.
Written by Tanya Shrivastava. Edited by Sara Varghese.
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