Chhattisgarh attack: Jairam Ramesh alleges conspiracy against Cong

Raipur: Claiming a political conspiracy behind last month’s deadly Maoist attack in Bastar, Union Minister Jairam Ramesh said there are forces which don’t want Congress to come back to power in Chhattisgarh. He slammed the state’s BJP government for its alleged non-existence in most parts in Bastar which Maoists have declared as their “liberated zone”. “It is not a simple attack. It is a political conspiracy. Congress led by Nand Kumar Patel was sure to win public mandate in the polls but some forces don’t want Congress to come back to power,” Ramesh told reporters at Congress Bhawan here. “However, Congress will continue its parivartan yatra and win assembly elections. I have visited several Maoist-hit districts in the country. I found South Chhattisgarh’s Sukma, Dantewada, Bijapur, Kanker, Narayanpur, Bastar and Maharashtra’s Gadhchiroli to be the districts most affected by Maoists,” he said. [caption id=“attachment_905915” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Jairam Ramesh in this file photo. Reuters[/caption] He alleged the government is totally missing in these zones and said only the Ramkrishna Mission works in some places. “I was perturbed to find two foreign agencies providing health facilities in critical areas like Bijapur in South Chhattisgarh, which is something the government should have been doing”. He said the Centre could only provide paramilitary forces and other help to the state government but the primary responsibility lies with the local police and the state government has to play the main role in wiping out the Maoist guerrillas. Several contractors and politicians were linked to the Maoists in Bastar, he said. Union Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs V Narayanasamy, who was also present at the press conference, alleged the BJP government had always ignored the security of Congress leaders. “I had extensively toured Bastar when I was in charge of Chhattisgarh Congress but the BJP government did not provide us security. It has been apathetic towards the security of Congress workers. Therefore, the May 25 incident occurred,” he charged. “The Centre provided full help to the state government in terms of a financial package, forces and weapons to deal with the Maoists but the latter failed to restore peace in the tribal region,” he said. Earlier, Jairam Ramesh and V Narayanasamy, along with AICC General Secretary and Chhattisgarh in-charge B K Hariprasad, Union Minister and Acting President of the state Congress Charandas Mahant, visited Jagdalpur and distributed cheques to families of the May 25 attack victims. Congress also distributed cheques to families of Maoist attack victims in Raipur. PTI