Truce offer by Maoists a welcome step: Cong leader

A senior Congress leader today welcomed the ceasefire offer by the Maoists as a step towards peace but said there should not be any conditions for the talks.

"It is a welcome step and there should be talks with Maoists," K Keshava Rao, in-charge of party affairs in Naxal-hit Jharkhand and West Bengal, told reporters.

Maoists has made a conditional ceasefire offer asking the Government to halt the offensive against them for 72 days and involve mediators for talks. "Just condemning the extremists would not do good as for the last 40 years we are condemning them," Rao said.
   
However, he said there should not be any conditions for the talks. BJP leader Rajiv Pratap Rudy said, "We are also for talks, but before resuming talks they (Maoists) must shun violence and surrender their arms."

CPI leader D Raja said the government must spell out its strategy on the issue in clear terms.

Responding to the ceasefire offer by Maoists, the government has made it clear that it will not accept any pre-conditions for talks and asked the ultras to come out with a simple statement saying they will abjure violence.