Leaders of various political outfits cut across party lines on Monday to condemn Sunday's serial bomb blasts in Bihar capital Patna.
Six of the bombs went off inside or near Patna's Gandhi Maidan, the venue for the BJP rally that was addressed by its prime ministerial candidate.
The remaining two blasts took place inside a public convenience complex at the Patna Railway Station.
In all, six persons lost their lives and another 40 to 50 others were injured by the blasts
Commenting on the tragic incident, Communist Party of India leader S. Ramachandran Pillai said: "We condemn this incident. We do not believe in politics of violence. It is the responsibility of the ruling government to find out and bring out the culprits. None of the our workers are involved in this."
BJP president Rajnath Singh said: "There is no doubt that it is very unfortunate. I believe this incident happened because of terrorist activities. I would like to appreciate the people of Bihar for their patience. There is no doubt that this is a major security lapse. The Bihar Chief Minister called and expressed grief. He said that investigations are on, and assured that he will gather all the facts and details related to the incident in a day or two."
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Senior Uttar Pradesh Congress leader Rita Bahuguna Joshi said: "I totally condemn these (blasts). Strict action should be taken as soon as possible. It is a very serious matter."
Minister of State for Agriculture and senior Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Tariq Anwar said: "First of all, I totally condemn this. To say that the government is involved in this will be totally wrong. The good thing is that the culprits have been caught."
Biju Janata Dal leader and Member of Parliament Jay Panda said: I strongly condemn this. It is an attack on democracy. I hope that action will be taken."
He also refused to comment on Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde attending the music launch of the Bollywood movie "Rajjo" in the national capital on Sunday evening.
"I have no comment on the Home Minister attending a music launch, as I don't know under what circumstances he had to attend the event," said Panda.
Senior BJP leader Vinay Katiyar said: "This is a very serious issue. Terrorist activities are increasing. The government has to address this issue seriously. There have been nine blasts in total. Our leader (Modi and others) kept everyone calm by saying those were crackers. They stopped a possible stampede. There were more than five lakh people there."
"The state government is saying they had received no intelligence about the possibility of this incident happening. Terrorists are taking advantage of situations. A proper investigation should be undertaken," he added.
Janata Dal (United) leader and spokesman K C Tyagi said: "The situation in the country is very serious. Such incidents have happened in Chhattisgarh, Bodh Gaya, Jammu and Akshardham. The terrorists have struck again. Security forces from various departments had gone to Patna the day before the blasts took place, and they had no information about the possibility of the attacks taking place."
"This is a conspiracy. The perpetrators chose the wrong day to strike. Modi might be our political competition, but we share the same human values. The Home Minister has no idea what time the blasts happened and its better for him to show restraint and stop making baseless comments," he added.
The low intensity blasts rocked Patna between 9.30 a.m. and 12.45 p.m. yesterday shortly before Modi's 'Hunkar Rally' at the Gandhi Maidan.
The Home Ministry has sent NSG and NIA teams to Patna to probe the reasons for the blasts.
