Nitish Kumar's soft stand against Maoists an insult to martyrs: Congress

Charging Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar with adopting a 'soft' stand on tackling Maoist problem, the Congress said that the former's plea against forceful action against the Maoist amounted to insult to thousands of policemen and paramilitary personnel killed at the hands of the ultras over the years.

"The Bihar chief minister has called for a soft approach against the Maoists which amounts to an insult to the thousands of cops and security personnel who have laid down their lives in gun battle with the Maoists, the state unit Congress spokesperson Prem Chandra Mishra said in a statement.

"The NDA government in Bihar has adopted a soft approach against the Maoist as a bargain with the ultras to ensure its victory in the forthcoming assembly polls," he alleged while reacting to Kumar's stand for an integrated approach for development of the Maoist-infested regions under the longterm plan to eradicate the Maoist menace.

Referring to the chief minister's plea for a political solution to Maoist violence, the Congress leader asked the former to explain initiatives taken by his government in the past five years to bring the Maoist ultras in mainstream.

On Kumar's stand that the Maoist were very much part of the society, the Congress leader said that the Maoist should be punished for their criminal acts as was the case with other criminals, who were also very much part of our society.

"Why should there be two sets of rules for the Maoists and other criminals? Mishra asked.