Sonia summons Patnaik again

NEW DELHI, Feb 8: Congress president Sonia Gandhi has summoned Orissa Chief Minister J B Patnaik following recurrence of attacks on Chris...

NEW DELHI, Feb 8: Congress president Sonia Gandhi has summoned Orissa Chief Minister J B Patnaik following recurrence of attacks on Christians in the State.

Patnaik, who reached here this afternoon, is expected to meet Gandhi soon after her return from Hardwar tonight.

Gandhi has taken a serious view of the series of attacks on minorities. Party spokesperson Girjia Vyas said Patnaik was expected to give a full report on the follow-up action and the steps taken to prevent recurrence of such incidents. She said the party was seriously concerned about the incidents.

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On whether the Chief Minister had been summoned or he had come on his own, Vyas said that it did not make much difference. According to the police, the latest attack was part of a fight between two groups.

On the party’s reaction to the Government shifting cases against AIADMK supremo Jayalalitha from the special court to a sessions court, Vyas declined to comment. This was a matter relating to the judiciary, she said. However, she recalledthat the treatment meted out to Jayalalitha when she was in jail was unfortunate.

Regarding the developments in Goa, she said the Chief Minister had recommended dissolution of the Assembly and holding of fresh elections. The Congress does not believe in horse-trading and therefore does not want to keep a Government at any cost, she said.

Referring to the ongoing strike at the Capital’s prestigious All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Vyas said it was a very serious development as a large number of patients could not get admitted there following the closure of the OPD and emergency departments. She wanted the Government to have a sympathetic view about the demands of the employees and sort out the problem at the earliest.