News APP

NewsApp (Free)

Read news as it happens
Download NewsApp
Home  » News » Sonia, Manmohan won't visit Sriperumbudur

Sonia, Manmohan won't visit Sriperumbudur

Source: PTI
May 21, 2004 10:55 IST
Get Rediff News in your Inbox:

Prime Minister-designate Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi will not visit Sriperumbudur to pay homage to former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi on his 13th death anniversary, party spokesman Kapil Sibal said on Friday.

It was widely speculated that Gandhi and Singh may visit the site before a Congress-led government is sworn-in, possibly on Saturday.

"No one is going there, including Sonia Gandhi," Sibal said.

At Gandhi's memorial Veerbhumi in Delhi, Vice-President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, Prime Minister-designate Manmohan Singh, Congress president Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul led the nation in paying tributes.

A wreath was placed on behalf of President A P J Abdul Kalam, while Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit and her cabinet colleagues, J&K Deputy Chief Minister Mangat Ram Sharma, Lok Jan Shakti Party leader Ram Vilas Paswan, Republican Party of India leader Ramdas Athavale and many newly elected MPs, including film star Govinda, were among those who came to pay tributes.

Singh, attending his first formal function after being appointed as prime minister, was accompanied by his wife Gursharan Kaur.

An all-religion prayer was held and a speech of Rajiv Gandhi on secularism and threat of communalism was also played on a loudspeaker.
Get Rediff News in your Inbox:
Source: PTI© Copyright 2024 PTI. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of PTI content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent.