2001 Parliament attack: Political leaders pay homage to those who lost their lives

Leaders from across the political spectrum, including President Ram Nath Kovind, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, his predecessor Manmohan Singh, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Lok Sabha speaker Sumitra Mahajan on Thursday remembered and paid homage to the victims of the 2001 Parliament attack. (Express photo by Neeraj Priyadarshi)

Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan, veteran BJP leader L.K. Advani, Congress President Rahul Gandhi, BJP President Amit Shah, Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad, CPI National Secretary D.Raja and members from various parties and states paid their tributes. (Express photo by Praveen Jain)

Two days after the Congress wrested three Hindi heartland states from the BJP, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress president Rahul Gandhi were a short distance from each other at a function in Parliament on Thursday but did not speak. (Express photo by Praveen Jain)

Rahul Gandhi paying homage to the martyrs of the 2001 Parliament attack. (Source: Indian National Congress)

On December 13, 2001, five terrorists infiltrated the Parliament House precincts and opened fire with automatic weapons. All five terrorists were killed in the counter-attack by security personnel.(Express photo by Praveen Jain)

On the 17th anniversary of the attack, Modi took to Twitter to recall the courage of the security personnel. "We salute the valour of those who were martyred during the dastardly attack on our Parliament on this day in 2001. Their courage and heroism inspires every Indian," he said. (Express photo by Neeraj Priyadarshi)

UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi paying tribute to the martyrs on Thursday. (Source: Indian National Congress)

Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu, Union Ministers Arun Jaitley, Harsh Vardhan, Hardeep Singh Puri also took to Twitter to salute their courage. (Express photo by Neeraj Priyadarshi)

Leaders from across the political spectrum paid homage to the victims of the 2001 Parliament attack. (Express photo by Neeraj Priyadarshi)