Chhattisgarh: Congress to re-launch rally near Naxal ambush site

Unfazed by the dastardly attack by Maoists, Opposition Congress in Chhattisgarh will soon resume its parivartan yatra from Keslur village near Jiram Ghati, the spot where its convoy was ambushed on May 25.

Congress workers will pay tribute to the victims including state Congress chief Nand Kumar Patel, his son Dinesh, former leader of opposition in the assembly Mahendra Karma and former member of legislative assembly Uday Mudliyar among others, at all district headquarters on June 6.

Tributes will be paid at all block headquarters on June 7, but not in the remote Maoist-affected blocks of Bastar division, which includes the districts of Bastar, Dantewada, Bijapur, Narayanpur, Sukma and Kanker.

Twenty eight people were killed and 36 injured, including former Union minister Vidya Charan Shukla, in the attack.

"We will relaunch the parivartan yatra very soon from the same place where it was left and it will be concluded at the state capital Raipur," All India Congress Committee general secretary B K Hariprasad told reporters.

The parivartan rally came under attack at Jiram valley in Darbha block when it was on its way to Keslur town in Jagdalpur district.

The rally in its new avatar will begin from Keslur, he said.

Hariprasad, also the party in-charge of Chhattisgarh, was speaking to reporters after a meeting with senior Congress leaders, district presidents, block-level members and general secretaries, which lasted for two hours.

Reacting to allegations by the Bharatiya Janata Party -- that some Congress leaders were part of the Naxal conspiracy -- Hariprasad responded that the National Investigation Agency was probing the incident and its outcome is awaited.

Meanwhile, AICC Treasurer Motilal Vora said the party will soon take a call on appointing a new Pradesh Congress Committee chief before commencement of the parivartan yatra.