Rahul Gandhi to visit Assam on Friday for paying tribute to singer Zubeen Garg
Guwahati (PTI): Leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, is scheduled to arrive here on Friday to pay tribute to singer Zubeen Garg, who died in Singapore last month.
Gandhi will visit Garg's resting place at Sonapur, on the outskirts of Guwahati, to offer his respects to him, a Congress leader said.
He will also visit the singer's residence to convey his condolences to the bereaved family members, he said.
Garg, 52, died in Singapore while swimming in the sea on September 19. He was cremated with state honours on September 23 near Guwahati. The Assam government formed an SIT that is investigating the circumstances that led to his death.
Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) president Gaurav Gogoi had visited the site on Thursday to review the arrangements for Gandhi's visit.
Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had on Thursday said that Congress MP Rahul Gandhi's visit to pay tribute to cultural icon Zubeen Garg was after 28 days of his death, but it is still ''better late than never''.
''We had expected a senior Congress leader like Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi or someone else to be present at the singer's cremation," the chief minister had said at a press conference here.
Sarma said as Gandhi is coming to pay his tribute to the singer, ''we welcome his visit to the state''.
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Trump rushed out of dinner event after shots fired; one arrested
Washington (PTI): US President Donald Trump and other top White House officials were evacuated unharmed from the annual dinner of White House correspondents after a man armed with multiple weapons fired shots outside the ballroom of the hotel.
The incident took place at around 8:34 PM local time when dinner was served. At that time, Trump was seen having a conversation with Weijia Jiang, the President of the White House Correspondents' Association, and mentalist Oz Pearlman, who was scheduled to present a show at the marquee event at the Washington Hilton here.
Secret Service officials and other security personnel covered the President, First Lady Melania Trump, Vice President J D Vance, and the Second Lady Usha Vance, who were seated at the head table, and escorted them out of the ballroom.
Several guests at the dinner, including leaders across the political spectrum, journalists and other invitees, ducked under the table, apparently as a reflex reaction.
Putting up a brave face, President Trump later announced on Truth Social that the dinner would be rescheduled within 30 days.
“Boom, boom, boom, boom is all that I heard, and many guests ducked under the table,” a C-SPAN reporter at the dinner said.
Hours later, Trump addressed a press conference at the White House and announced that the security personnel had captured one person who hails from California.
“I heard a noise and sort of thought it was a tray going down. I've heard that many times. It was a pretty loud noise, and it was from quite far away. He (the attacker) hadn't reached the area at all. They really got him,” Trump told reporters, recalling the incident.
Trump said one security officer was shot at but saved as he was wearing a bulletproof vest.
Several protestors had lined up on the road outside the hotel, raising slogans against the Trump administration and Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth.
A CNN reporter who was outside the ballroom at the Washington Hilton said he saw a gunman opening fire just a few feet away. He was among the dozens of attendees who took cover as law enforcement swarmed the venue.
The suspect has been identified as 31-year-old Cole Tomas Allen from California.
Asked how Saturday’s incident impacts him as the US president, Trump told reporters he is in a dangerous job but that he is no “basket case.”
“I like not to think about it. I lead a pretty normal life, considering, you know, it’s a dangerous life. I think I handle it as well as it can be handled,” Trump said.
Trump has survived two assassination attempts over the past two years – first at a presidential election campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13, 2024, and later in Palm Beach, Florida, on September 15, 2024.
“I will say you had Republicans, Democrats, independents, conservatives, liberals, and progressives...everybody in that room, big crowd, record-setting crowd,” he said.
“We had some great work done by law enforcement, but in light of this evening's events, I ask that all Americans recommit with their hearts in resolving our differences peacefully,” Trump said.
