Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday met the family members of Shubham Dwivedi, one of the 25 tourists killed in the Pahalgam terror strike, at their home in Kanpur.

The family members also spoke to Rahul’s sister and Wayanad MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra over the phone.

Shubham’s wife Aishanya broke down on seeing Rahul. “Rahul consoled her and sat there for about 30 minutes. He called up Priyanka and gave the phone to Aishanya. They spoke for about seven minutes. Aishanya told Rahul in detail about the incident. She said the terrorists were not in a hurry; they kept killing people for about 45 minutes,” a family member told reporters on condition of anonymity.

“Rahul said he was also a victim of terrorism as his father (Rajiv Gandhi) and grandmother (Indira Gandhi) were killed by militants. He promised us that he
would try to convince Om Birla, the Lok Sabha Speaker, to call a special session of Parliament on the Pahalgam killing,” he added.

Aishanya told Rahul that there were security personnel at every place in Jammu and Kashmir except Pahalgam where the militants targeted the tourists.

Rahul said the Kanpur victim’s family had requested the Prime Minister to declare those slain in Pahalgam as martyrs.

“We have given a unanimous line that what has happened is unacceptable. The entire Opposition supports the government 100 per cent and will continue to do so…. The people who have done this need to pay a price and the PM has to act on it now, firmly,” he said.