A Congress leader, who was with former Union minister Vidyacharan Shukla during the Naxal attack in Chhattisgarh on Saturday, has claimed that the ambush specifically targeted state Congress chief Nand Kumar Patel and senior leader Mahendra Karma, both of whom died in the strike.

The National Investigation Agency will probe the Maoist attack on Congress leaders in Chhattisgarh after the Centre received a go-ahead from Chief Minister Raman Singh for the same. "I have spoken to Raman Singh and he has agreed for probe by NIA and he has agreed to the probe by the central agency," Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde said on Monday.

The Bharatiya Janata Party postponed its country-wide anti-UPA agitation, which was scheduled to start Monday, in the wake of the killing of several Congress leaders in a Naxal attack in Chhattisgarh.

Terming the Naxal attack in Chhattisgarh as a 'holocaust', Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh said the ultras resorted to such acts as they felt threatened with the pace of development work.

Condemning the Maoist attack on a Congress rally in Chhattisgarh, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has said that Maoism is a serious challenge to Indian democracy and joint efforts are being made to combat it.

Condemning attack on Congress rally in Chhattisgarh, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi called for "a policy of zero tolerance" towards terrorism and Naxalism.

The Maoist threat should be taken with utmost seriously and the menace should be dealt with in every possible way, political leaders in Jharkhand opined.

A day after Maoists gunned down the founder of anti-Maoist militia Salwa Judum, Mahendra Karma, Prasanna D Zore spoke with Rahul Pandita, author of 'Hello, Bastar: The Untold Story of India's Maoist Movement', for his insights into what he terms as the ageing Maoist leadership's "one final push to their war against the State in their lifetime."

Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi on Sunday termed the deadly Maoist attack on his party leaders in Chhattisgarh as an attack on democracy itself.

Asserting that the country will never bow down before Naxalism, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Sunday said government will pursue the perpetrators of the crime with urgency and is committed to bringing them to justice.

Appreciating the courage of Congress leaders in Chhattisgarh, UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi on Sunday said the "cowardly" Maoist strike was not an attack on the Congress or its leaders but on democratic values.

Congress workers on Sunday disrupted rail and road servcies during the day-long bandh called by the party in Chhattisgarh to press for the dismissal of the Bharatiya Janata Party government in the wake of deadly Maoist attack.

Communist Party of India on Sunday condemned the killing of 27 people in a Maoist attack in Chhattisgarh, saying that violence and killings do not have a place in democracy.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and United Progressive Alliance Chairperson Sonia Gandhi arrived here today in the wake of the deadly Naxal attack on a convoy of Congress leaders in Chhattisgarh's Sukma district.

Security experts say there has been complacency in handling the Naxal issue since the number of attacks has gone down over the years. Vicky Nanjappa reports.

Senior Congress leader V C Shukla, who was injured after heavily-armed Maoists ambushed a convoy of party leaders in Chhattisgarh's Bastar district, was on Sunday airlifted to a hospital in Gurgaon near New Delhi from Raipur

With the recovery of the bodies, the toll in the lethal Maoist attack on a convoy of Congress leaders on Saturday has climbed to 27, police sources said.

With Saturday's attack on a Congress convoy that killed party members and police personnel along with Salwa Judum founder Mahendra Karma, the Maoists have issued a strong political message.

'The cities are not safe, Naxals will reach them very soon,' feels Mahendra Karma, the tribal leader who championed the controversial Salwa Judum against the Naxalites.

There will be no separate samadhis for VVIPs in Delhi as the government on Thursday decided to have a common complex for memorials of departed national leaders like Presidents, vice presidents and prime ministers. The Union Cabinet cleared a proposal to set up 'Rashtriya Smriti' along the Yamuna river in central Delhi in view of the paucity of space as around 245 acres of prime land in the national capital has already been occupied by separate samadhis.

Rahul Gandhi will lead Congress in the next Lok Sabha elections and is the "most appropriate" prime ministerial candidate, AICC said, a day after he distanced himself from such talk.

Here's a look at some of the best-known portrayal of terrorists in Hindi films.

A large number of devotees are taking a holy dip at the Sangam, the confluence of Ganga, Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati rivers in Allahabad on the auspicious occasion of ''Mauni Amavasya'' on Sunday.

Kamal Haasan and his artistic freedom is the smaller issue. How will the world view us when a handful of demonstrators terrorise our governments to ban a movie? Who will invest in India when a few truckloads of fanatics can cause closure of the highly protected and centrally located US embassy in a prominent city of the country, asks M R Venkatesh.

This year, the much-anticipated Jaipur Literature Festival will have a special touch of spirituality, with an underlying theme of Buddha's influence on the literary world. And who better than the Dalai Lama to throw open this discussion?

Modi embodies the best of Indonomics. He will ensure that India's sovereign interests are never comprised even when collaboration is sought on matters where India doesn't currently have strength, says Pramod Kumar Buravalli.

Dashing Pakistan opener Imran Nazir has advised all-rounder Shahid Afridi to take a break from international cricket to recover his confidence and form.

Celebrating Dilip Kumar's 90th birthday through his illustrious films.

In the sprawling rural Bihar, elected head of the village panchayats, known as 'mukhiyas' are living in fear in view of increasing threat to their lives.

Pune FC returned to winning ways, defeating a spirited Pailan Arrows 2-0, in a Round 5 I-League fixture that halted the AIFF developmental outfit's unbeaten run in Kolkata on Friday.

Former leader of opposition in Chhattisgarh assembly Mahendra Karma sustained minor injuries after his vehicle was blown up by suspected Naxalss in Dantewada district of the state, police said.

Pune FC was unlucky not to earn a point after being done in 0-1 by Churchill Brothers in an I-League Round 4 encounter at the Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex, Mhalunge-Balewadi, in Pune on Sunday.

Aziz Haniffa speaks to the candidate from Hawaii, on course to become the first Hindu-American congresswoman

East Bengal rode on Chidi Edeh's first-half strike and some moments of luck to beat Pune FC 1-0 in a Round Three I-League fixture, in Kolkata, on Monday.

Makkhi is a visual delight.

Directors Yash Chopra, Ramesh Sippy and R Balki speak about their close associtation with the iconic actor.

The headquarters of Sikkim's North district on Monday remained cut off from rest of the state as rescue teams struggled to access remote areas as the toll in floods rose to nine in Assam and four in Arunachal Pradesh.

The Pakistan Air Force on Friday launched an investigation into a Taliban attack on a key airbase that left two security personnel and nine militants dead, officials said.

The decline in society began when we reduced the message of Gita to fatalism. We are forever waiting for a messiah to come and rescue us as promised in Gita. But we have forgotten the central message of Gita to do our 'karma' or duty without the attachment to rewards and its fruit, says Colonel (retd) Anil Athale.