The differences among Congress leaders over Maoist problems surfaced in Chhattisgarh when a senior leader said the Naxal problem can only be resolved through dialogues, another senior leader said the rebels should be dealt with strongly.
Congress general secretary BK Hariprasad on Tuesday said if the Congress comes to power in the State, it will follow the model the party adopted in Andhra Pradesh to contain the Maoist menace.
Releasing the party manifesto at the Congress office in Bastar, the leader said the Bharatiya Janata Party Government mishandled the Maoist situation and the rebels should be dealt strongly.
Hariprasad also said his party would first try to hold talks with the left wing extremists. If the Maoists reply back with bullets, we will pay them back in their own coin, he said.
Disagreeing to Hariprasad view, Party spokesman Bhakta Charan Das said at intervening night of Friday and Saturday that it was only through dialogue the Maoist problems can be resolved.
Das is the Congress campaign in-charge in Dakshin Bastar area. Speaking at the town hall in Jagdalpur, Das however, said he was not aware what Hariprasad said on the issue. “I was not present when he said on this,” he said.
The Chhattisgarh Congress was earlier known for infighting. The difference of opinion among its leaders over the Bastar’s burning issue has now placed them in the spotlight.