Dismiss Raman Singh govrenment: Congress after C'garh Maoist attack

NEW DELHI: Congress today demanded in Lok Sabha dismissal of the Raman Singh government in Chhattisgarh in the wake of the latest Maoist ambush, even as the House condemned the "cowardly" act.

Condemning yesterday's attack in Lok Sabha, Tamradhwaj Sahu (Cong) said the incident showed "total collapse" of the state administration as there have been similar ambushes in the recent years killing large number of central forces personnel as also civilians.

"Despite intelligence reports, no action was taken by the state government...The state administration has completely failed to secure the lives of the people," Sahu said during Zero Hour.

Though official records showed 2,500 people have been killed in the past few years in such attacks, the actual number of victims would be 10,000, he claimed.

"There is no intelligence network, there is no administration. ... The state government should be immediately dismissed," the Congress member said.

Responding to him, Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu said, "This is not a partisan issue. ... It is a national challenge."

He said Home Minister Rajnath Singh was visiting the site today and was likely to make a statement before the House tomorrow.

Earlier, as soon as the House met for the day, Speaker Sumitra Mahajan drew the attention of the members to the encounter.

Dubbing the attack as a "cowardly" act, she prayed for those killed in the incident and extended condolences to the family members of the personnel. She also hoped for early recovery of those who were injured.

The members later stood in silence for a few minutes as a mark of respect for those killed.

14 CRPF personnel, including two officers, were killed and an equal number were injured in an encounter with Maoists in south Chhattisgarh's Sukma district.