'Bharat ki baat sunata hoon': Manish Tewari on being 'benched' by Congress during Operation Sindoor debate

New Delhi: Congress MP Manish Tewari on Tuesday evoked Manoj Kumar's iconic song from "Purab aur Pashchim" -- "Bharat ka rehne waala hoon, Bharat ki baat sunata hoon" -- as he shared on X a media report on being "benched" by his party during the Operation Sindoor debate.

There had been intense speculation whether Tewari and Shashi Tharoor, both part of the diplomatic delegations that had been sent abroad to convey India's stand, would speak in the Lower House or not during the ongoing debate on the Pahalgam attack and Operation Sindoor.

Taking to X, Tewari shared the screenshot of a media report which was headlined -- "'Spoke in favour of govt': Why Congress benched Shashi Tharoor, Manish Tewari during Operation Sindoor debate." The report stated that none of the leaders picked by the Centre to represent India globally as part of delegations post Operation Sindoor found a place in the list of speakers from the Congress party.

Along with the screenshot of the report and a picture of him with the tricolour in the backdrop, Tewari posted, "Hai preet jahaan ki reet sada, main geet wahaan ke gaata hoon, Bharat ka rehne waala hoon, Bharat ki baat sunata hoon - Jai Hind." These are the lyrics from a song in the 1970 Manoj Kumar starrer "Purab Aur Paschim".

Tewari did not elaborate any further on his views about the whole issue.

Congress party sources on Monday said the party had asked Tharoor if he was interested in speaking during the Operation Sindoor debate in Parliament but he declined and instead expressed a desire to speak on 'The Indian Ports Bill, 2025'.

There has been intense speculation on whether Tharoor, who led the delegation to the US among other countries, will be picked as a speaker by the Congress given that his enthusiastic endorsement of the government's action following the terror attack has soured his ties with the party.

The BJP-led ruling National Democratic Alliance and opposition parties are fielding their top guns during the discussion in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha.

Opposition parties have framed their public criticism of the government around alleged intelligence lapses behind the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack, which left 26 civilians killed, and US President Donald Trump's claims of mediating a ceasefire between India and Pakistan.

Rahul Gandhi has repeatedly attacked the government's foreign policy, claiming that India did not receive international support on Operation Sindoor and has cited Trump's frequent mediation claims to target the ruling alliance. The government has rejected Trump's claims.