The Congress leader said that he had become chief minister of undivided Madhya Pradesh only because of the support his party received in Chhattisgarh at that time.
Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh today said that he was ready for a debate with the Chhattisgarh chief minister Raman Singh at any time or any place on the naxal problem and what happened in Chhattisgarh when he was chief minister of undivided Madhya Pradesh.
In a strongly-worded two-page letter to Chhattisgarh chief minister that was released to the press here, the Congress general secretary said that he was pained at the language and words used in a recent article by Singh on Naxalism.
"I did not expect the use of such language from you," Singh said adding that he did not need any certificate from the Chhattisgarh chief minister on the development of that state.
The Congress leader said that he had become chief minister of undivided Madhya Pradesh only because of the support his party received in Chhattisgarh at that time.
Singh said that in the 1998 assembly elections, Congress had received good support in Chhattisgarh and unfortunately in the elections, Raman Singh too had failed to win from his home constituency.
The Congress general secretary said that to fight Naxalism, development works should be implemented, especially in the Naxal menace affected areas and that this does not seem to be happening at present. He added that because of this, information about Naxalites was not reaching police and as a result, Dantewada incident took place, in which 76 security
personnel were killed by Naxals.
He said that during the Congress regime, there was an opportunity to fight Naxalites through Salwa Judum under the leadership of Mahendra Karma, but because of the wrong policies, those related with Salwa Judum were not protected and they were forced to become refugees.
Saying that the Naxal problem cannot be fought with the gun alone, the Congress leader asked Raman Singh to pursue the style of Andhra Pradesh or Maharashtra in fighting the Naxalism.
Singh also urged the Chhattisgarh chief minister to answer 10 questions, one of them relates to the number of Naxal incidents that took place during Raman Singh's present tenure and when he was the chief minister of undivided MP.
Digvijay Singh's questions also try to prove that the ruling BJP in Chhattisgarh had tried to get the support of Naxalites at the time of some elections and then went back on its promises made to the Naxals.
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