Rajnath Singh's advice to Reds: Forget Mao

Ahead of the five-phase assembly polls in Maoist-affected state of Jharkhand, union home minister Rajnath Singh appealed to the CPI (Maoist) to give up Mao Tse-tung whose ideology has already been forgotten in China and instead join the mainstream by shunning violence.

"But here you (Maoists) are killing your innocent countrymen by following that ideology. I would like to appeal to the naxals to shun violence. Our democratic values are very strong. I would like to ask them to change the power through democracy and not by guns," said Singh making a fervent appeal to the Maoists. He was speaking at the 75th Raising Day of CRPF.

With desertions by hundreds of cadres, including several middle level commanders, in last one year hitting the morale of the CPI (Maoist), the central government is steadily getting confident of winning over the lost ground from the Maoists.

Several eyes are on Jharkhand elections to know how much sway the Maoists still have there and if the voting would cross 42% mark achieved in last elections.

"Such appeals when made during election time can act as a big motivator for Maoist cadres, who on the one hand, are going through torrid times in jungles and, on the other are watching common people exert their power through democratic means to elect their representatives," an official said.

Singh referred to the CRPF jawans as 'loktantra ke prahri' (soldiers of democracy) and saluted them for performing exemplary duty in Maoist-affected states.

He noted that the country's largest paramilitary force is engaged in many critical areas and that around 80 per cent of its jawans work in high-risk zones of Kashmir, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and northeastern states.