Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi visit Muzaffarnagar; interact with riot victims

Muzaffarnagar: Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh accompanied by Congress President and UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Congress Vice President and Amethi MP Rahul Gandhi visited riot-affected localities in Muzaffarnagar district in  Uttar Pradesh on Monday.

PM, Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi visited the relief camps set up in the riot-hit district and met riot victims.  Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi also interacted with the riot-victims at Vasipur Kalan. Prime Minister during a brief interaction with the media said that the Centre would extend all possible support to the state government to restore normalcy in the region. They also visiting some other riot-hit areas too during the visit.

A meeting of the National Integration Council (NIC) has also been convened on September 23 to discuss the increasing communal incidents.

The PM's scheduled visit to Muzaffarnagar and the NIC meeting which will be attended by all union ministers and chief ministers reflects the Centre's concern. The PM's last visit to riot-affected areas was in Assam last year.

Manmohan's visit to Muzaffarnagar comes a day after Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav toured few of the riot-hit villages. However, wherever Akhilesh went, anger followed him. The CM promised government jobs and swift justice to the victims but got a tepid response from locals.