JOIN USThe BJP on Tuesday criticised the UPA government for failing to provide “adequate support” to the Maoist-affected states and claimed that the government “lacked political will” to fight the ultras.
The comments come a day after seven CRPF personnel were killed and nine injured in an encounter with Maoists in the Latehar district of Jharkhand.
BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar said: “It is a grim reminder of the failure of the Congress-led UPA government to put in place a fool-proof, unified strategy with states affected by the Maoist violence, to prevent such attacks. The Maoists are challenging the very idea of India...yet the policy, strategy and intention of the UPA government is suspect.” The party claimed that states with a BJP government - Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Madhya Pradesh - are striving hard to contain the Maoist menace through development activities, like providing employment to the youth so that they do not take up arms.
“But lack of adequate support and political will on the part of the UPA government is a major reason for the repeated incidents of Maoist attacks targeted at police and para-military personnel,” Javadekar said.
A total of 142 security personnel were killed in 2011, while 85 died in 2012 in encounters with the Maoists.