Pahalgam attack: Congress holds emergency CWC meet, pays tribute to victims

Top Congress leaders on Thursday held an emergency meeting of the party's working committee to deliberate on the Pahalgam terror attack and are expected to pass a resolution condemning it.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, former party chiefs Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, general secretaries K C Venugopal, Jairam Ramesh, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, among others, attended the Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting here at the party's 24, Akbar Road office.

The meeting started with leaders paying homage to the victims of the attack by observing a moment of silence in their memory.

Rahul Gandhi had cut short his visit to the United States to attend the CWC meeting.

The Congress is expecting Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who will be chairing an all-party meeting on the attack later this evening, to take all political parties into confidence as well as build a collective resolve.

Earlier, Kharge and Rahul Gandhi had spoken with Home Minister Amit Shah, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and senior party leaders from the Union Territory to get an update on Tuesday's attack at the prime tourist location Baisaran near Pahalgam in south Kashmir that left 26 people, mostly tourists, dead.

Kharge had termed the incident a direct assault on the Indian State and said the entire country stands by the Centre in its fight against terror.

He had urged the government to use all its strength to hunt down the terrorists and also suggested that an all-party meeting be called to address the challenge of terrorism in a spirit of consensus.

"We must give a fitting response, and in this matter, we are all one, and we will fight. But there should not be claims and finger-pointing. We urge the government to use all its strength to hunt down the terrorists," Kharge said.