Aam Aadmi Party condemns Maoist attack in Chhattisgarh

The attack by Maoists on a Congress party convoy in Chhattisgarh should serve as a wake-up call to the nation, the Aam Aadmi Party said here Sunday.

The party was reacting to the Saturday evening ambush attack by Maoists in the thickly forested area of Darbha Ghati in southern Bastar, close to the border of Chhattisgarh with Andhra Pradesh, in which close to 30 people were killed.

Those killed included state Congress chief Nand Kumar Patel and his son, and senior party leader Mahendra Karma, responsible for the founding of Salwa Judum, an anti-Naxal force. The Congress leaders were part of a party convoy returning to state capital Raipur from a rally.

At least 25 others were critically injured, including V.C. Shukla, 84-year-old Congress leader who served as union minister in former prime minister Indira Gandhi's cabinet.

Condemning the Maoist attack, the Aam Aadmi Party said in a statement: "The incident is very unfortunate and condemnable and should serve as a wake up call to the nation... Several such attacks have rocked Chhattisgarh state. State and central governments have been unsuccessful in stopping these attacks."

The party asserted that such problems could only be solved through dialogue.

"If this endless cycle of violence is to be stopped, then we must, apart from condemning all forms of violence, also try to solve the problem through dialogue. It would need honest political will, which is missing today," it said in the statement.