The Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs has sought a report from the Gujarat government on the attack on Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav allegedly by Sangh Parivar activists in Vadodara and the authorities' failure to provide him security.

The CCPA, which met for an hour on Thursday night with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in the chair, expressed shock over the attack on Yadav when he visited the site of the collision between Sabarmati Express and a goods train near Vadodara and the hospital where the injured were admitted.

17 dead in Gujarat train crash

Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee told reporters after the meeting that "in the constitutional frame of affairs it is the responsibility of the state government to provide security to Union ministers when they are visiting the state."

"Failure to provide security to a senior minister of the union government is deplorable," he said.

FIR lodged against Lalu's attackers

Mukherjee said the Union Home Ministry has asked Gujarat government to identify the culprits and take strict action against them and any official responsible for the "lapse."

He said the Gujarat governor has been asked to send a report on the incident at the earliest.

The CCPA meeting was attended among others by Mukherjee, Home Minister Shivraj Patil, Lalu Prasad Yadav, Human Resource Development Minister Arjun Singh, Law Minister H R Bhardwaj and Telecommunication Minister Dayanidhi Maran.