President Pratibha Patil, Vice President M. Hamid Ansari, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar have strongly condemned the bomb blasts in Mumbai in which 21 people were killed and over 100 injured on Wednesday.
In a statement, the Prime Minister said he had asked the Maharashtra Chief Minister to do whatever possible to provide relief to the injured and to the families of those killed. “I have also asked Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram to provide all possible expert assistance to the State government. I appeal to people of Mumbai to remain calm and show a united face,'' Dr. Singh said.
Expressing deep shock at the scale of attacks targeted against innocent people, the Vice President said such terrorist acts were aimed at “destabilising the nation” and urged all citizens to remain united at this critical hour.
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He reiterated the nation's resolve to fight terrorism in all of its malevolent manifestations.
Terror war against India
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Bharatiya Janata Party president Nitin Gadkari has condemned the blasts in the strongest possible terms and asked the government to take a clear stand in setting up an effective anti-terror infrastructure.
BJP leader L K Advani spoke to Mr. Chidambaram to seek an update on the developments.
The BJP said the terror war against India was still on and asked the government to take a determined stand to deal with the menace. “We strongly condemn this dastardly attack. This is a deliberate attack on Mumbai which has been targeted by anti-Indian forces,” BJP spokesman Prakash Javadekar told journalists here.
Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar in a message said: “I am deeply pained to learn about the loss of many lives during serial blasts in Mumbai. I convey my heartfelt condolences to the bereaved members of the families of those who have lost their lives. I pray for the speedy recovery of those who have been injured in the serial blasts,” Ms. Kumar said.
RLD president Ajit Singh and the former Union Minister Gurudas Kamat have condemned the blasts.
“Sinister design”
CPI national secretary D. Raja visited the blast site at Dadar and the KEM Hospital, where large number of victims were being treated.
Mr. Raja and CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat were in Mumbai after staging a protest rally against the nuclear power project in Jaitapur.
Terming the blasts as “sinister designs” of the terrorists to create a mayhem in the financial capital, Mr. Raja said security agencies should do more to thwart these designs.
Mr. Raja praised the people of Mumbai for being resilient and maintaining calm after the terror strike.