JOIN USPrime Minister Manmohan Singh tonight talked to Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh and asked him if any Central assistance is required by the state in the wake of the Maoist attack on Congress leaders.
UPA Chairperson and Congress president Sonia Gandhi condemned the incident, saying it was an attack on the democratic values.
PMO sources said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh called up Raman Singh soon after the Maoist attack. He asked the Chief Minister if more central forces are required urgently by the Chhattisgarh government, the sources said.
The Congress president expressed shock and anguish over the dastardly attack in Chhattisgarh on party workers.
"It is an attack on democratic values which need to be condemned by not only political parties, but society as a whole," Gandhi said in a statement.
"The Prime Minister condemns the attack on Congress leaders in Chhattisgarh as a dastardly and anti-democratic act," a statement from the PMO said. In his telephonic conversation with the Chhattisgarh Chief Minister, Singh offered all help in rescue and relief operations to the state.
Former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Ajit Jogi also condemned the Naxal attack on his fellow party leaders and said there is little option but to impose President's Rule in the state.
"This is the greatest tragedy that has happened. I request PM Manmohan Singh that there is no remedy and President's Rule must be imposed and we must take on the naxalites head on," Jogi told reporters.
He alleged that 2,000 to 3,000 police personnel had been deployed for the on-going Vikas Yatra of Chief Minister Raman Singh while no security, other than personal security officers, was provided to Congress leaders who were taking out the Parivartan Yatra in the state.