Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh has said that the country will never bow down before Naxalism.
"Our leaders, Nandkumar Patel, Mahendra Karma, Uday Mudaliyar have sacrificed their lives. However, our country will never bow down before Naxalism," Dr. Singh said while addressing party workers at Congress Bhavan in Raipur.
Dr Singh was speaking to news persons after he and Congress President Sonia Gandhi visited Ramkrishna care Hospital in Raipur, where those injured in yesterday's attack are being treated.After meeting the injured, Prime Minister said the first priority of the government is to provide adequate support to the injured.
28 people including senior Congress leader Mahendra Karma were killed in the attack which also left 30 others injured.
Prime Minister has announced an ex gratia of Rs 5 lakh to the family of those killed and fifty thousand to those injured.
Prime Minisrer said Government is committed to bringing the perpetrators to justice.
Dr Singh said this incident should inspire fight against forces of extremism.
Congress President Sonia Gandhi termed the maoist attack as the "attack on democracy."
PM Manmohan Singh last night talked to Chhattisgarh CM Raman Singh and asked him if any Central assistance is required by the state in the wake of the Maoist attack on Congress leaders.
UPA Chairperson and Congress president Sonia Gandhi condemned the incident, saying it was an attack on the democratic values.
PMO sources said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh called up Raman Singh soon after the Maoist attack.
He asked the Chief Minister if more central forces are required urgently by the Chhattisgarh government, the sources said.
The Congress president expressed shock and anguish over the dastardly attack in Chhattisgarh on party workers.
"It is an attack on democratic values which need to be condemned by not only political parties, but society as a whole," Gandhi said in a statement on Saturday night.
"The Prime Minister condemns the attack on Congress leaders in Chhattisgarh as a dastardly and anti-democratic act," a statement from the PMO said on Saturday.
In his telephonic conversation with the Chhattisgarh Chief Minister, Singh offered all help in rescue and relief operations to the state.
Former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Ajit Jogi also condemned the Naxal attack on his fellow party leaders and said there is little option but to impose President's Rule in the state.
"This is the greatest tragedy that has happened. I request PM Manmohan Singh that there is no remedy and President's Rule must be imposed and we must take on the naxalites head on," Jogi told reporters.
He alleged that 2,000 to 3,000 police personnel had been deployed for the on-going Vikas Yatra of Chief Minister Raman Singh while no security, other than personal security officers, was provided to Congress leaders who were taking out the Parivartan Yatra in the state.
Sonia holds meeting with PM on Chhattisgarh Maoist attack
Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Saturday condemned as despicable the attack on her party colleagues in Chhattisgarh's Jagdalpur district and held a meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh over the shocking incident.
Gandhi, who was accompanied by party Vice President Rahul Gandhi, told reporters in New Delhi
She condemned the Maoist attack on the Congress Parivartan Yatra that led to the death of party leader Mahendra Karma.
The UPA Chairperson said the attack on ordinary party workers is despicable.
"Naturally we are devastated... It is despicable that ordinary people engaged in political activity were attacked," she said.
Gandhi also expressed concern over the condition of senior Congress leader V C Shukla, who was injured in the attack.
"Shuklaji has been hit by a bullet in the stomach area," she said.
Gandhi said the Prime Minister has spoken to Chhattisgarh Chief Minister two hours back who had said he will get back but had still not called.
Gandhi said all authorities concerned have been asked to render all support. Gandhi's political secretary Ahmed Patel was also present in the meeting with the Prime Minister.PM Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi met injured persons in the recent naxal attack in Chhattisgarh on Sunday that left 28 persons, including state party leaders dead.
"We have to be more determined in fighting naxalism. These lives hsould not go in vain," Dr. Singh said at the Raipur hospital where the injured are being treated.
"This incident should be treated as an inspiration in our fight against forces of extremism and violence," he added.
Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi met state Congress chief Nand Kumar Patel's family members on Sunday at Devendra Nagar and expressed his condolence over the demise of the senior party leader.
Heavily-armed Maoists ambushed a convoy of Congress leaders inside a dense forest in Chhattisgarh's Bastar district on Saturday, killing at least 28 people, including senior Congress leader Mahendra Karma.
The Maoists also killed PCC chief Nand Kumar Patel and his son Dinesh in Darba Gati Valley
Minister of state for Home R P N Singh left for the Maoist attack site in Jagdalpur on Sunday as Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde is now abroad.
Home Ministry officials briefed Shinde about the incident.
Bullet-riddled bodies of Chhattisgarh Congress chief Nand Kumar Patel and his son Dinesh, who were kidnapped by Maoists have been found today along with those of eight others in Jiram valley in Bastar.
With the recovery of the bodies, the toll in the lethal Maoist attack on a convoy of Congress leaders on Saturday has climbed to 28.
32 people have been injured in the attack, DGP Ram Niwas said on Sunday.
The bodies of Patel, his son Dinesh and eight others, mainly security personnel, have been recovered from Jiram valley in Bastar division, the sources said.
The Maoists had kidnapped Patel and his son Dinesh after attacking the convoy of Congress leaders.
Heavy rains in the area is hampering the operations of the security forces.
Senior Congress leader Mahendra Karma was killed and former union minister V C Shukla injured when heavily-armed Maoists ambushed a convoy of party leaders inside a dense forest in Chhattisgarh's Bastar district on Saturday.
It's an attack on democracy, says Rahul
Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi, who arrived in Raipur in the wee hours on Sunday, said the party cannot be cowed down by such attacks and will continue to move forward.
"It is not an attack on Congress. It is an attack on democracy. But, we'll not fear from such an attack and continue to move forward with enthusiasm," Gandhi said.
Gandhi also met V C Shukla and other injured leaders at a hospital.
In the wake of the deadly attack, security has been stepped up at the Congress Bhavan in Raipur and other vital installations in the state.
State Congress Spokesperson Rajesh Bissa said, "The body of Nand Kumar and his son have been found. If the state government would have taken care of security during Parivartan Yatra, then this incident would not have happened.
We all are in shock". Soon after the attack on Saturday, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had spoken to Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh and offered all help in rescue and relief operations.
He strongly condemned the "dastardly" Maoists attack on Congress leaders and workers in Chhattisgarh.
The Maoist attack took place in a dense forest near National Highway 202 connecting Chattisgarh with Naxal-hit Bhadrachalam district in adjacent Andhra Pradesh.
Opposition Congress' Parivartan Yatra, comprising senior party leaders, had launched Parivartan Yatra on 12th April in the state where Assembly elections are due by year end.
The Centre has rushed more than 600 CRPF personnel, including elite CoBRA anti-Maoist commandos, to sanitise and take control of the Naxal attack site in Chhattisgarh.
The Centre has mobilised the CRPF personnel to not only take control of the area but also launch search and rescue operations as it is suspected that some people may be present in nearby jungles.
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