In the wake of the deadly Maoist strike on the Congress contingent in Chhattisgarh, the BJP on Sunday called for an “aggressive, unified and non-partisan” strategy to fight the rebels in the violence-hit areas.
The BJP condemned the gruesome act and expressed its “concern” over the safety of political activists.
“It is shocking and most unfortunate. We condemn this outright,” Lok Sabha Opposition leader Sushma Swaraj said in her tweet. BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar also sought an aggressive action plan against the Maoists and their violence.
Ananth Kumar, another BJP leader, said the entire nation should come together and resolve to weed out the Naxal menace.
“We condemn this dastardly and cowardly attack. Of late, Naxalites are targeting elected representatives and political leadership,” Javadekar said, pointing to the killing of a Chhattisgarh Minister’s son last year and other attacks on the BJP activists in Andhra Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, apart from an earlier attack on TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu by the armed rebels.
“This new aggressive strategy of Naxalites is a real threat to the Constitution and the rule of the law. It is a challenge to the nation’s sovereignty,” he added.
Wishing a speedy recovery to all the Congress workers and leaders injured in Saturday’s Maoist ambush, the BJP also condoled the death of the several Congress leaders and activists in the attack.
“Everybody must appreciate and agree on this basic fundamental challenge thrown up by Naxalites. It is not state-specific but an inter-state issue. The attack took place in Sukma, which is on the Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Chhattisgarh border,” Javadekar noted.
Referring to the Naxal strategy of carrying out an attack in one state and fleeing across to another state to escape being pursued by the security forces, the BJP said that there was a need for “a unified strategy” from the Centre to deal with the menace.
“It (Naxalism) is not development issue. It is about the Naxal belief in violence to grab power,” he said, cautioning the Congress not to play politics on the Maoist attack.