A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress President-elect Rahul Gandhi wrapped up campaigning in Gujarat for the high-stakes Assembly elections in the state, Congress and BJP leaders alike came together to pay homage to martyrs of the 2001 Parliament attack.
On Wednesday, the 16th anniversary of the 13 December Parliament attacks, rare images of political nemeses meeting and greeting each other emerged. Included in this assembly of foes were Gandhi and Modi, who came face to face only 24 hours after berating each other in their respective speeches in Gujarat.
Modi was also seen greeting his predecessor Manmohan Singh, who has repeatedly broken his ‘silence’ to chide Modi and his policies.
- 01/02(Photo: ANI)
- 02/02(Photo: ANI)
More recently, Modi had accused the Congress of colluding with Pakistan to tamper with the Gujarat elections. He alleged that senior Congress leaders like Mani Shankar Aiyar, former Vice President Hamid Ansari and Manmohan Singh attended a dinner with Pakistani dignitaries where the elections were discussed.
Singh hit back at this allegation of treason, saying:
My track record of public service to the country over the last five decades is known to everyone. No one, including Modi, can lamely question it to gain lost political ground.Dr Manmohan Singh, former prime minister
Meanwhile, Gandhi was seen smilingly greeting External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, a key member of Modi’s cabinet who has frequently been in wars of words with the Gandhi scion (typically on Twitter).
Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad and Gandhi were also seen sharing a friendly greeting.
This comes only a day after Prasad addressed a press conference attacking Gandhi. “He should stop telling the public lies,” Prasad had asserted. He later posted a video of his jibe at Gandhi on his Twitter timeline.
What these political rivals spoke about is anyone’s guess!
Other leaders present at the gathering included outgoing Congress president Sonia Gandhi, Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Vice President Venkaiah Naidu and Minister of State for Home Affairs, Kiren Rijiju.
On 13 December 2001, the Indian Parliament was attacked by Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists, in what is labelled one of the biggest attacks on Indian soil till date.
Six Delhi police personnel, two Parliament security service personnel and a gardener lost their lives in the attack, when the ‘temple of Indian democracy’ turned into a battleground.
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)