PM, Rahul share cold vibes

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress president Rahul Gandhi gave off cold vibes to each other as they attended a function to pay homage to the martyrs of the 2001 Parliament attack.

Modi and Rahul almost came face-to-face at the function in the Parliament House premises, two days after the Congress handed out a severe drubbing to the BJP in the recently concluded Assembly elections to Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhatisgarh.

While the prime minister turned a blind eye to the Congress President, he was seen exchanging courtesies with former prime minister Manmohan Singh.

Union ministers Vijay Goel and Ramdas Athawale shook hands with Rahul, who has emerged as a challenger to Prime Minister Modi in the Lok Sabha elections next year.

Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu, Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan, BJP veteran L K Advani and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi offered floral tributes to the martyrs of the Parliament attack.

On December 13, 2001, five heavily armed gunmen stormed the Parliament complex and opened fire.

Five Delhi police personnel, a woman constable of the Central Reserve Police Fore, two members of the Parliament Watch and Ward Staff, a gardener and a cameraman lost their lives in the attack.