Click to play videoNew Delhi: Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil is reportedly under pressure to quit following the serial bomb blasts which rocked New Delhi on Saturday evening killing 22 people and injuring over 100 others.
Congress President Sonia Gandhi convened a meeting on Monday to review the security situation following Saturday's serial blasts but crucially left out Patil from her list of invitees
Among party bigwigs who attended the meeting were External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, Sonia's political advisor Ahmed Patel, All India Congress Committee General Secretary Digvijay Singh, Defence Minister AK Antony, Margret Alva, Ahmed Patel, Janardhan Dwivedi and Veerappa Moily.
The meeting was reportedly convened by Sonia to assess the mood in the country after the blasts as it prepares for the next Lok Sabha elections.
Those in the party in favour of Patil's removal in the party said that the meeting discussed the Home Minister's recent dismal performance in dealing with both terror attacks and the Amarnath land row.
Congress sources said that Patil being kept away from such a high level meeting indicates that the Congress does not want to shield him any further.
But Home Ministry sources insisted that the meeting had nothing to do with internal security or terror.
Meanwhile, Union Railway Minister and Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad Yadav said that the Home Minister alone is not to be blamed for the attacks.
"Intelligence Bureau gives vague information. They are not specific. Don't blame the ministers alone. Bureaucracy and the police are also responsible. We cannot fight terrorism just by introducing POTA. These things have been happening before also," Lalu said.
Lalu also urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Sonia to immediately hold a meeting of the Union Cabinet and call a high-level all-party meeting to deliberate measures to check terrorism.
He met both the Prime Minister and Sonia on Monday morning and demanded that the a Special Task Force be set to work on the issues of terrorism and intelligence gathering on a continuous basis.
Strongly condemning terror attacks which target innocent people, Lalu cautioned against ''communal politics'' on the issue of terrorism saying that terrorists have no religion or castes.
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