Sonia, Rahul meet PM over Chhattisgarh attack

The UPA president Sonia Gandhi accompanied by the party vice president Rahul Gandhi has met the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh late in the evening over the Maoist attack on the Congress leaders in Chattisgarh.

The UPA president Sonia Gandhi accompanied by the party vice president Rahul Gandhi has met the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh late in the evening over the Maoist attack on the Congress leaders in Chattisgarh.



“Several of our leaders were killed and our PCC chief is suspected to have been abducted. We do not know the condition of our senior colleague VC Shukla. Everyone should be involved in the rescue and aid operations,” Gandhi told reporters after the meet.

Soon after the Maoist attack on Congress leaders in Chattisgarh on Saturday evening, the prime minister talked to chief minister Raman Singh and inquired if any central assistance is required by the state to deal with the situation.

“The PM had called up Raman Singh soon after the attack and asked if more central forces are required urgently by the Chhattisgarh government,” PMO sources said.

Gandhi had in a statement earlier expressed shock and anguish over the attack on the Congress workers and termed the incident as an attack on the democracy.

"It is an attack on democratic values which need to be condemned by not only political parties, but society as a whole," Gandhi said.

The attack in Jagdalpur district killed the party's senior leader Mahendra Karma and injured former union minister VC Shukla.

The Maoists, suspectedly, also kidnapped PCC chief Nand Kumar Patel and his son after attacking the Congress leaders at Darba Gati Valley in Jagdalpur district, police said.

A former Congress MLA Udya Mudaliyar was also shot dead by the Maoists who attacked the party convoy at around 5:30pm when they were returning from a "Parivartan" rally.

HT Image

(With inputs from PTI)