Chhattisgarh Congress MLAs offer to resign 'en masse' from assembly

They seek to force a dissolution of the house in the wake of the May 25 Naxal attack in which senior Congress leaders were killed

Mounting pressure on the Raman Singh-led BJP Government in Chhattisgarh, opposition Congress legislators have offered to resign en masse from the state assembly to force a dissolution of the house in the wake of the May 25 Naxal attack in which senior Congress leaders were killed in Bastar.

Senior Congress leader and former Minister Mohammad Akbar said the legislators offered to quit from the assembly at a meeting of the Congress Legislature Party.

He said that the legislators were pressing for an early dissolution of the state assembly and imposition of president's rule.

Meanwhile, the Chhattisgarh Government has dropped its move to convene a special session of the state Assembly to pay homage to those who killed in the ambush.

Heavily-armed Naxals had on May 25 ambushed a convoy of Congress leaders in the state's Bastar district, killing 28 people, including Pradesh Congress Committee chief Nand Kumar Patel, his son Dinesh, Congress leader Mahendra Karma and ex-MLA Uday Mudliyar and injuring 32 others.

Former Union Minister V C Shukla injured in the attack is being treated at a Medanta hospital in Gurgaon. His condition is stated to be critical, but stable.