(KUNA) -- Three members of the ruling Congress party in Andhra Pradesh were killed Friday morning and five others were injured in a Maoist landmine bomb that targeted an MP and his wife, a state minister, both of who escaped unscathed. Indo Asian News Agency said Indian MP and former chief minister of the southern Indian state, Janardhan Reddy, and his wife, Rajyalakshmi, who is a minister in the state cabinet, escaped a the blast this morning. However, three members of the ruling party were killed and five others were injured in the attack on the convoy near Kovada village in Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh.Janardhan Reddy and Rajyalakshmi, who is Minister for Women Development and Child Welfare in Andhra Pradesh, were going to Tirupati, a temple town. Andhra Pradesh police suspect the Communist Party of India (Maoist) of being behind the blast. Janardhan Reddy, who had imposed a ban on Maoists during his tenure as the chief minister (1990-1992), was on the hit list of the left wing extremists and the police had foiled an attempt to kill him in 2003.