Chhattisgarh chief minister Raman Singh on Thursday rejected suggestions made in certain quarters that there were differences between him and home minister P. Chidambaram on the issue of tackling Maoists. Mr Singh clarified that the state and the Centre were working together to tackle the menace.
“There is no difference between the Chhattisgarh government and the Centre. There is no difference between the state and Central forces and there is no difference between my thinking and that of Chidambaram in dealing with the Maoists,” Mr Singh stated after meeting the home minister.
“We want a solution to the Naxal problem, which is a challenge to democracy, and there should be development and peace for which everyone was working,” he stated.
Mr Singh said his meeting with Mr Chidambaram was a “good one” and they had a lengthy discussion about the incidents which had taken place in the last one month in Chhattisgarh. “There are limitations of the states, there are limitations of the Central government. I discussed all these issues with the home minister and how to solve it,” he said.
He stated that he had sought additional paramilitary forces for the state. “We always look for more forces but Central government provides forces on the basis of availability. If they can provide by making some arrangement, that would be good. Mr Chidambaram too has said that if possible, more forces would be provided,” Mr Singh added.
On Gujarat Chief Minister and fellow BJP leader Narendra Modi’s suggestion that there should be talks with the Maoists, Mr Singh said no one was shying away from holding dialogue with the Naxals.
“We have announced a liberal surrender policy. We have said that if there is any initiative for talks, Chhattisgarh would not shy away from it. But the key issue is if you are inviting some one for talks, he has to have faith in democracy. One can’t sit in a dialogue by holding guns in his hand,” he said. Singh said he has no hesitation in keeping the option of dialogue always open.
“There is no difference on the thinking between Narendra Modi and me. We are for taking strong action. But if there is any initiative for talks at the national level or at any level, I personally, or the Chhattisgarh government would not back out of it,” he said.
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CM invites PM to C’garh
New Delhi, May 20: Chhattisgarh chief minister Raman Singh on Thursday met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and invited him to visit the state, especially the Naxal-hit areas of Bastar and Sarguja, saying it would send out a “positive message” to the people against Naxalism.
“I have requested the Prime Minister to visit Chhattisgarh, especially the Naxal-affected regions. His visit will send out a positive message to the people,” Mr Singh said. —PTI