PM Modi, Rahul Gandhi exchange no greetings
Modi was seen exchanging greetings with his predecessor and Congress leader Manmohan Singh.
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday paid tribute to several BJP leaders, including former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee who passed away in August this year, and to security personnel killed in the 2001 Parliament attack 17 years ago.
Mr Modi and Congress president Rahul Gandhi were a short distance from each other at a function in Parliament, but did not speak. The two leaders were present to pay tribute to the martyrs of the Parliament attack.
Mr Modi was seen exchanging greetings with his predecessor and Congress leader Manmohan Singh.
Union minister Vijay Goel and minister of state for social justice Ramdas Athawale shook hands with the Congress president.
Addressing the first parliamentary party meeting of the BJP of the Winter Session, Mr Modi, however, skipped any direct mention of the recent state poll results in which the party suffered a big setback by losing power in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.
The Prime Minister also paid tribute to his cabinet colleague Ananth Kumar and party MP Bhola Singh. Mr Modi told the party MPs that living up to the ideals of Vajpayee, who died on August 16 this year, would be the biggest tribute to the party's stalwart.
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 gunmen stormed the Parliament complex and opened indiscriminate fire.