Mangaluru: Senior government officials offered tribute to the victims of the air crash at the Mangaluru International Airport on the 15th anniversary of the mishap on Thursday.

The district administration organized a condolence meet at the memorial constructed at Thannirbavi in memory of the crash victims. Deputy Commissioner In-charge Dr. Anand, Mangaluru City Corporation Commissioner Ravichandra Nayak, Panambur Assistant Commissioner of Police K Srikanth and Tahsildar Naveen Kumar paid floral tribute to the accident victims.

The Air India Express flight that arrived from Dubai at 6:20 am on May 22, 2010 had overshot the runway and fallen down a hillock nearby. The accident had resulted in the death of 158 of the 166 people in the airplane. As the identity of several bodies could not be confirmed, the bodies were cremated on the banks of River Phalguni in Kuloor and a memorial was constructed on the site.

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Guwahati (PTI): Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Friday criticised Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma for attacking Gaurav Gogoi over alleged Pakistan links, asserting that dragging his family and children into it is "wrong politics".

After paying homage to Zubeen Garg at his cremation ground 'Zubeen Khetra' at Sonapur on the outskirts of Guwahati, Vadra said the singer was "above politics" and spread the message of love throughout his life.

"There are two types of leaders in politics -- one who does positive politics and the other who does polarisation. Gaurav Gogoi is doing the politics of love," she said when asked about Sarma's repeated attacks on the Assam Congress chief over alleged Pakistan links.

Vadra asserted that Gogoi is "a positive person, and wants to bring positivity in politics".

"That is why such attacks on him are taking place. People of Assam understand this. But the attacks on Gaurav and his family are the wrong politics. Nobody should attack the family and children (of a political leader)," Vadra said.

Instead of such politics, the Assam CM should "talk about the youth and women of the state, who are looking for jobs", the Wayanad MP said.

"You are seeing how much corruption is taking place. It is just a betrayal of the people of the state," she told reporters.

Talking about her visit to 'Zubeen Khetra' in the morning, Vadra said that she went to the cremation ground to pay her respect to the singer and not do any politics over it.

"Zubeen Garg was above politics. His cremation ground should be a sacred place and should not be used for politics," she added.