Congress to boycott all-party meet on Naxals in Chhattisgarh today

The opposition Congress will boycott an all-party meeting today convened by Raman Singh-led Chhattisgarh in the wake of the May 25 Maoist attack in Bastar District, which claimed the lives of 27 people, including senior Congress leaders.

"The state government is not doing anything. It failed to provide security to the Congress Yatra. Such meetings have no meaning", Leader of Opposition in the state assembly, Ravindra Choubey, told reporters at the state Congress headquarters here on Wednesday.

The Raman Singh-led state government has convened an all-party meeting as a part of its exercise to take all political parties into confidence for a renewed offensive against the rebels in Bastar for which the Centre and the state governments are reworking anti-Maoist strategies.

The decision to convene the all-party meeting had come hours after Congress demanded immediate resignation of the chief minister.

At the meeting, Raman Singh is likely to seek suggestions from leaders of all political parties on the Naxal issue and brief them on the law and order situation in the state.

Heavily-armed Maoists had on Saturday ambushed a convoy of Congress leaders in the state's Bastar district, killing 27 people including PCC chief Nand Kumar Patel, his son Dinesh, Congress leader Mahendra Karma and ex-MLA Uday Mudliyar and injuring 37 others.

Former Union Minister V.C. Shukla injured in the attack is being treated at a Medanta hospital in Gurgaon. His condition is stated to be critical, but stable.