Chennai, Oct 10: Maharashtra Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde today said his government had taken various measures to contain terrorism in the state by detaining some of accused under Pota. The state government had also distributed grants to the tune of Rs 1100 cr to those affected by recent blasts in Mumbai and other places in the state, Shinde told reporters at the airport enroute to Sriperumbadur, about 40-kms from here, where President A P J Abdul Kalam is to dedicate the Rajiv Gandhi memorial to the nation later in the day. Delhi Chief Minister Shiela Dixit said Congress would emerge victorious in the coming assembly polls in Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Chhatisgarh, and Rajasthan. She excluded any possibility of BJP winning the polls.

Speaking in the same vein, Congress leaders Ambika Soni and Gulam Nabi Azad, said dismal performance of Congress in the recently held bypolls should not be taken as an yardstick for the party's performance in the coming assembly polls. Karnataka Home Minister Mallikarjuna Kharge said hunt for sandalwood brigand Veerappan was continuing without any let up. Steps were also being taken to tackle naxal menace, he added.

Punjab Chief Minister Amrinder Singh, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and scores of other Congress leaders arrived here this morning on their way to Sriperumbudur to attend the function.

Bureau Report