Holding central government equally responsible for Naxal attack on the entourage of Congress leaders in Sukuma in Chatisgarah, senior Samajwadi party leader and Urban Development Minister Md Azam Khan said that intelligence agencies of both Central and state governments failed to read the ground reality leading to such a pogrom.
"The Centre could not run away from its responsibility as the intelligence agencies of the Central government as well as the Chhattisgarh government failed in their duties," he said in a statement issued here on Sunday.
"When Congress government at the Centre could not save the life of its own leaders in Chhattisgarh, how will it protect the lives of one billion people of the country," he asked.
Condoling the incident in which 29 people died Khan drew similarities of the Maoist attack in Chhattisgarh with the Ayodhya demolition of 1992 and communal violence in Gujarat. He alleged in these cases too, the Centre had failed to act.
"The criminal act of the Naxalites in Chhattisgarh too proves that the poor people of the region were still cut off with the social, economic and political system leading to disparity and forcing them to take up arms and dance to the tune of Naxal leaders" he said.
The Congress however, contested Khan’s statement. Objecting to the statement of UP Minister, Spokesperson and former Union minister Shakil Ahmed said people should not do politics at this juncture.
"Naxalism is certainly a serious issue for the country and if politicians try to take mileage on such incidents, it is unfortunate," he said.