New Delhi, Feb. 1: Differences between the Union home minister, Mr P. Chidambaram, and the Gujarat Chief Minister, Mr Narendra Modi, surfaced during a meeting of chief ministers on internal security here on Tuesday.
When Mr Modi attacked the Centre over the rise in the killings of civilians by Maoists, calling it a “failure” on the government’s part, the home minister countered this by saying that “Gujarat has no idea of the seriousness of the Naxal problem”.
Mr Modi, speaking on the sidelines of the conference, said the rising civilian casualties at Maoist hands, as noted by the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, was a “failure” of the government. Mr Chidambaram objected, saying: “I don’t think it is fair to say the situation has worsened in Naxal-affected states... It’s a kind of stalemate.”
“Now without being partisan, I am surprised that someone has said the situation has worsened.”
Earlier, the Prime Minister said that there was a decline in Left-wing extremism in 2010 compared to 2009. He said that though the attack on security forces by the Maoists had declined, civilian causalities had gone up.
“The Situation in Chhattisgarh, Bihar, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Orissa, and Maharashtra continue to be serious,” the Prime Minister said.
Mr Chidambaram said the Maoists remain a “powerful and determined adversary” and has added at least four companies to the People’s Liberation Guerrilla Army (PLGA), the armed wing of the Naxals.