The Congress on Saturday night sidestepped questions whether Home Minister Shivraj Patil [Images] and Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh should be held responsible in the wake of the terror attacks in Mumbai. "Only time will tell," was the cryptic reply from Congress general secretary Janardhan Dwivedi to a question from media-persons at the end of a three-hour meeting of the Congress Working Committee.
Asked if Patil offered to resign at the meeting, Dwivedi quipped, "I have not heard the question."
The CWC meet came in the backdrop of the Mumbai terror attacks, which left 195 people dead, and in the midst of campaigning in five states and at a time when the Opposition was accusing the Congress-led coalition at the Centre for not being serious about tackling terror.
'The Congress calls upon Pakistan to honour its commitment and prevent the use of its territory for commission of acts of terrorism against India,' said a resolution adopted by the CWC presided by party chief Sonia Gandhi [Images] with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh [Images] by her side.
The nearly three-hour meeting saw leaders emphasising that strong action was needed to be taken in the wake of the Mumbai terror attacks to send a signal that India meant business.
The meet wanted the government to take immediate and concrete action to revamp the security set-up to make it more responsive and to ensure that such incidents of terror are pre-empted and prevented.
'The CWC resolves to continue the struggle and to mobilise the people of India in isolating, confronting and defeating the forces of violence and terror,' the resolution said.
In an apparent attack on opposition BJP, the resolution said it cautions against the 'divisive and diabolic designs' of some forces to politicize the tragedy 'in pursuit of partisan political agenda'.
'The CWC is confident that the people of India will reject all those who insist on injecting divisiveness in this hour. Terrorism [Images] has no religion and must be condemned in all its manifestations,' the resolution said.
'This terror attack has once again underscored the enormity of the threat confronting the country,' the resolution said, adding 'the reprehensible carnage deserves the strongest condemnation'.
'It is a national challenge, calling for a firm and collective response. We appeal to the people of India to remain united,' said the resolution.
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