Maoists want to usurp power at gunpoint: Raman Singh

RAIPUR - Maoists have been stepping up their war against the state with the aim of usurping power in Delhi at gunpoint, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh said Tuesday.

Replying to a day-long debate over an adjournment motion in the state assembly, Singh said: “Their (Maoists) aim is not Chhattisgarh, their aim is Delhi where they want transfer of power at gunpoint.”

During the debate, the Raman Singh-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in the state was attacked by the opposition for its failure to stop repeated deadly attacks by Maoists.

The debate began at 11.30 a.m. and stretched up to 7.30 p.m.

Leader of the opposition Ravindra Choubey hit out at the state government saying that the “saffron government is losing the war against Maoists despite having all resources, adequate forces and massive fund support from the central government.”

“The only one job the state government is doing now is just counting the death toll of our brave soldiers and innocent tribal civilians,” Choubey alleged amid interruptions by the ruling party members.

Raman Singh praised Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Home Minister P. Chidambaram for extending all support to the state for battling Left-wing extremism.

Responding to the Congress-moved motion seeking his resignation, Raman Singh said: “I will not run away from responsibility by resigning over Maoist attacks. I am committed to finish off Maoists.”

Slamming a section of human rights activists, Singh said: “They (activists) are not concerned about mass killings of civilians and policemen by Maoists…activists only pick up issues related to some selective persons.”

“They (activists) exert pressure on the government by holding protest marches across globe…their interests are different,” Singh said in the house amid suggestions by a few Congress members that there should a check on activists in the state.