No pleasantries exchanged as PM, Rahul attend Parl attack anniversary event

Two days after the Congress wrested three Hindi heartland states from the BJP, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress president Rahul Gandhi were a short distance from each other at a function in Parliament on Thursday but did not speak.

The two leaders were in Parliament for an event to pay tribute to the martyrs of the 2001 Parliament attack.

Modi was seen exchanging greetings with his predecessor and Congress leader Manmohan Singh.

Union minister Vijay Goel and Minister of State for Social Justice Minister Ramdas Athawale shook hands with the Congress president.

Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu, Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan, BJP veteran L K Advani and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi were among the others present at the event.

They showered petals on portraits of the martyrs killed in the attack 17 years ago on this day.

On December 13, 2001, five heavily armed gunmen stormed the Parliament complex and opened fire. Five Delhi police personnel, a woman constable of the Central Reserve Police Fore, two members of the Parliament Watch and Ward Staff, a gardener and a cameraman lost their lives in the attack.

The Congress won the elections in Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh, all ruled by the BJP. The votes were counted on Tuesday.