'BJP does not see corruption, terrorism in Chhattisgarh': Rahul Gandhi

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Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi on Saturday said that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led Chhattisgarh Government talks about development, but it has failed to address issues like corruption, terrorism, and crime against women in the state.

"Chhattisgarh has the highest number of incidents of Naxal violence, and BJP blames us (Congress) for not dealing properly with terrorism. The amount of violence existing in Chhattisgarh, no other state has ever seen," he said while addressing a rally here today.

"Where there is violence, there cannot be any development. Where people live in fear, there cannot be any development. BJP talks of corruption in all their speeches, but in Chhattisgarh they don't see corruption or terrorism at all. They don't see the crimes against women or the unemployed youth here. They only see development,' he added.

Heavily armed Maoists had on May 25 ambushed a convoy of Congress leaders in the state's Bastar district, killing 28 people including PCC chief Nand Kumar Patel, his son Dinesh, Congress leader Mahendra Karma and ex-MLA Uday Mudliyar and injuring 37 others.

Maoists, who are considered to be India's greatest internal security threat, have of-late intensified their operations in many areas including Chhattisgarh.

Chhattisgarh, which witnessed a voter turnout of 67 percent in its first phase on Monday, will go into its second phase of polls on November 19, for the remaining 72 constituencies.