Cong leaders won’t visit Naxal-hit areas
Central leaders of the Congress are unlikely to be involved in the campaigning in the Naxal-influenced areas during the Bihar Assembly elections likely to be held in October this year.
“There are about 15 districts dominated by Maoists. Obviously, top leaders of the party will not go there for vigorous campaigning,” the Congress insiders said.
Jahanabad, Gaya, Jamui, Banka, Bhagalpur, Monger, Siwan, Motohari are known as Naxal-infested areas. Barring the CPI, the CPIML and other Left parties, no leader from the mainstream parties go to interior places there for the campaigning.
The Congress party which has decided to go it alone in the coming elections, has yet to make up its mind whether or not to project a “leader” against the incumbent chief minister Nitish Kumar and the RJD supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav.
This is because both Mr Kumar and Mr Lalu Yadav are leading the campaigning of their parties from the front while the Congress is depending upon its charismatic leaders to expose the “secular” Janata Dal(U) fighting the polls with the BJP hardlines like the Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi and MP Varun Gandhi. Though the Congress has yet to constitute a election campaign committee and a manifesto committee, the name of Mr L.P. Shahi is doing the round to head a manifesto committee.
“Naxalism and price rise could dominate the polls in the state where caste has always been a decisive factor in electoral battles,” they viewed.
Meanwhile, a Congress MP, V. Hanumantha Rao on Wednesday said in Shekhpura (Bihar) that Naxalite problem could not be solved by the guns. Naxalism poses a challenge to the internal security even as the menace can not be overcome by the batons of guns of the security forces, he told reporters there, according to an agency report.
Mr Rao sought to differ from the assessment of some UPA ministers about the political agendas of the Naxal outfits and said the genesis of Naxal movement was socio-economic issues.
The Congress leader was there to take part in a political function.
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