'Instant success not possible'

Union Home Minister P Chidambaram said instant success could not be expected in the battle against the Naxalites in the country.

“We must remain calm and hold nerves, it will take two-three years to get success (against the Left extremists),” Chidambaram said while addressing a press conference in Jagdalpur, about 300 km from here, today afternoon.

The home minister flew to Jagdalpur today to pay his last respects to 76 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) jawans who died in a Naxal attack Tuesday morning.

“The (Naxal-affected) state governments were trying to build strategies to counter the problem effectively,” he said, adding that the Andhra Pradesh government had received good success in tackling the problem in the state.

Chidambaram said there was no question of using Indian Army or the Air Force to deal with the problem that had emerged as the biggest internal security threat. The central paramilitary forces and the state police were sufficient, he added. Answering another question, he said: “At present there is no mandate to use the Air Force or any aircraft. But, if necessary, we will have to revisit the mandate to make some changes”.