Congress leader Ashok Gehlot addresses a party briefing at party office, 24 Akbar Road, in New Delhi on Tuesday.
| Photo Credit: ANI

The Congress on Tuesday (May 13, 2025) claimed the Narendra Modi government had lost “moral authority” after U.S. President Donald Trump announced the ceasefire between India and Pakistan.

Addressing a press conference at the All India Congress Committee (AICC) office, former Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot said India lost a “golden opportunity” in teaching Pakistan a lesson for sponsoring terrorism as a state policy.

Mr. Gehlot claimed citizens felt that the Indian armed forces were going strong and could have given a befitting lesson to Pakistan to ensure that it did not harbour terrorists and their camps in future.

“The manner in which the ceasefire was announced, this government has lost the moral authority and moral courage to rule,” Mr. Gehlot said, adding, “This was a golden opportunity for himself, the government and the country but it has been lost by the sudden announcement of a ceasefire”.

The former Rajasthan Chief Minister said Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s address to the nation on Monday evening was “disappointing” as he did not clarify on Mr. Trump’s claims of mediation.

“What pressure is the government under that the U.S. intervened and claimed mediation,” Mr. Gehlot asked as he posed several questions on why the Prime Minister was not responding to claims of the U.S. President since the U.S. has internationalised the issue.

The Congress veteran reiterated his party’s demand for a Special Session of Parliament to discuss the issue and a PM-chaired all-party meeting, where the government can spell out its thoughts and policy in the aftermath of the Pahalgam attack.

Differing opinion

However, there were differing opinions on the issue of third-party mediation. “Third Party Mediation between India and Pakistan is a reality going back to 1990, call it by whatever name back channelling, brokering, mediating, arbitrating, etc.,” Congress Lok Sabha MP Manish Tewari said in a post on X, adding that from 1947 to 1972, India-Pakistan relations “or lack of them whenever they reached a flashpoint were undergirded by UNSC resolutions, 1972-1990 the Shimla Agreement, 1990 onwards Third Party Intervention by whatever nomenclature you are most comfortable with”.

“U.S. President Donald Trump is just stating the facts as they are,” Mr. Tewari added.

However, the Congress’s official position on the issue, articulated by both Mr. Gehlot and communication chief Jairam Ramesh, question the government on the issue of the U.S. role.

Pointing out that External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar had spent maximum time with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and was the first to meet him, Mr. Ramesh, in a post on X, said, “The normally unquiet Minister’s silence on what Mr. Rubio has said on U.S. mediation and on a ‘neutral site’ for India-Pakistan talks is very deafening”.

In a separate post, Mr. Ramesh also asked if the Modi government would conduct a Kargil Review Committee-type exercise to probe the Pahalgam terror attack. “Three days after the Kargil War ended, the Vajpayee government set up the Kargil Review Committee on July 29, 1999. Its report was tabled in Parliament on February 23, 2000, although sections of it have remained classified — as indeed they must,” Mr. Ramesh said, adding, “Will the Modi government now conduct a similar exercise on Pahalgam, notwithstanding the NIA (National Investigation Agency) probe?”

The distressed parents of a Gulf migrant worker from Jagtial district, who is facing a travel ban and jailed in Ajman, United Arab Emirates (UAE), due to ‘unauthorised misuse’ of his bank account by an unknown third party, sought the intervention of Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy to ensure his release from jail.

Mallarapu Anjaiah and Mallavva, parents of Mallarapu Madhukar, 27, native of Yellapur village in Jagtial district, submitted a memorandum to the Chief Minister at ‘Pravasi Prajavani – the Gulf NRI Grievance Cell in Hyderabad on Tuesday, sources said.

NRI Advisory Committee vice-chairman and migrants’ rights activist Mandha Bheem Reddy guided the couple to seek help for the repatriation of their son from Dubai to India.

The distraught couple appealed to the CM to ensure consular and legal assistance to their son, presently lodged in a jail in the UAE, for his release from the prison and repatriation to India.

The barrage built across the Kollidam River between Adhanur and Kumaramangalam in Cuddalore and Nagapattinam districts
| Photo Credit: S.S Kumar

With the construction of the barrage across the Kollidam River, between Adhanur and Kumaramangalam in the Cuddalore and Nagapattinam districts, now complete, farmers in the tail-end delta region of Cuddalore are hoping for an early commissioning of the irrigation structure.

The barrage, built at a cost of ₹465.42 crore, aims at storing nearly 1.02 thousand million cubic feet (tmcft) of water that usually drains into the sea, which, in turn, will help recharge the groundwater table in villages in and around Adhanur and Kumaramangalam in the two districts, besides ensuring the stabilisation of the existing ayacut.

The floodwater harnessed in the barrage will ensure additional supply of water during times of water scarcity to the North Rajan channel in Cuddalore and South Rajan channel in Nagapattinam.

According to a senior Public Works Department (PWD) official: “The physical works, including additional components for the operation of the barrage, have been completed, but the commissioning has been delayed due to problems with land acquisition in Thanjavur district. The government has acquired around 49 hectares — six hectares in Mayiladuthurai and 43 hectares in Cuddalore — needed for the project. However, a section of farmers, who own pattas on the riverbed in Thanjavur, has moved the court and obtained a stay.”

The official added: “The barrage cannot be commissioned until the land acquisition process in Thanjavur district is completed. When the shutters of the barrage are lifted, it will result in the inundation of the patta lands owned by farmers on the riverbed. The land acquisition process is expected to be completed soon. Additionally, the final report for obtaining environmental clearance for the project has been uploaded on the ‘Parvesh’ portal of the Centre.”

The barrage has 84 vends with a capacity to discharge 4,55,726 cusecs. The capacity of the barrage is 0.334 tmc, and around 1.072 tmc of surplus water is proposed to be harnessed through four fillings of rain and surplus flows in a year. The barrage will benefit as many as 5,427 hectares of land each in Cuddalore and Nagapattinam districts.

PWD officials estimate that as many as 307 borewells in 12 villages in the two districts will be recharged, which would help in recharging the groundwater table in the surrounding villages. Each borewell is expected to irrigate an average of 14 acres each covering 1129 hectares in Cuddalore district and 657 hectares in Nagapattinam district.

According to K.V. Elangeeran, president of Cauvery Delta Farmers’ Federation: “The State government should expedite the land acquisition process for the remaining 22 hectares of land owned by farmers in Thanjavur district. It should hold talks with them and ensure that appropriate compensation is provided, since the early commissioning of the barrage will benefit farmers from both districts.”

Mr. Elangeeran also urged the government to construct similar barrages at 10 locations, starting from Mukkombu to Anaikarai, to prevent sea water intrusion and increase groundwater levels. Additionally, the banks of the Kollidam River should be strengthened on both sides of the barrage site.