Maoist attack: Congress to boycott all-party meet in Chhattisgarh

The opposition Congress has said that it will boycott an all-party meeting convened by the BJP-led government in 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 on Thursday 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.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Raman Singh said in Jagdalpur the fight against Maoism can only be successful if a joint effort is amde to combat the menace.

BJP president Rajnath Singh, BJP general secretary J P Nadda, ministers and other party functionaries have reached Jagdalpur on their way to Faraspal to meet family members of senior Congress leader Mahendra Karma, who was killed on May 25.