Opposition with Centre on Maoists; are UPA & Cong with it: Jaitley

NEW DELHI: The Opposition on Thursday used the political differences in the Congress to question the Manmohan Singh government’s seriousness in the ongoing anti-Naxal operations. Participating in a discussion on the Dantewada massacre in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday, Opposition leader Arun Jaitley said: `` The UPA government wasted its first five years by neither understanding the problem, nor suggesting a solution. The Maoist activities grew in this period.

When the present home minister took over, we had some hope that he, at least, understood the problem. But the developments in the last five days have saddened us. Saddened not because our security forces suffered a temporary setback, but because in the middle of a battle, which this nation cannot afford to lose, we find that the home minister is crippled by his own party and colleagues.’’

Former Union minister Yashwant Sinha said almost the same thing in the Lok Sabha, while initiating the debate on the massacre. `` The Opposition is with the government in this fight against Naxals. But is the Congress and UPA with the government in this fight,’’ he asked.

Referring to AICC general secretary Digvijay Singh’s edit page article in ET, the senior BJP leader alleged that he had `` challenged the entire policy of the government on Maoist menace. He (Mr Singh) is talking about collective responsibility and when a senior leader, an office-bearer of AICC, makes such a challenge, he not only challenges the home minister, but the entire government,’’ Mr Sinha said.

`The C ongress g eneral s ecretary says the home minister has intellectual arrogance. It is development, not security action, which will fight Maoists, he maintains. Mani Shankar Aiyar agrees with him, and Mamata Banerjee says there are no Maoists in Lalgarh. She has called for suspending the joint operations . She has further called for arresting the West Bengal chief minister,’’ Mr Jaitley told the Rajya Sabha.

Mr Jaitley alleged that it was Congress which had become a liability in the battle against Maoists. `` The Congress party has been infiltrated with half-Maoists , who do not indulge in violence but justify acts of Maoists. The home minister must ignore them,’’ he said.

Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, participating in the debate in the Lok Sabha, asked the home minister to exhibit more firmness in dealing with Naxalites. He demanded that the government adopt a twopronged approach: shakti (tough response ) coupled with suvidha (basic facilities to develop Naxal-hit areas). His suggestion was endorsed by Congress’ Charandas Mahant, but he also blamed the BJP -led Chhattisgarh government for leading the state to the edge of a precipice.