Political parties should unite to tackle Maoist problem: Rajnath

All political parties should come together and deal with the Maoist problem in the country, Home Minister Rajnath Singh said on Tuesday.

Replying to a Lok Sabha debate on the demand for grants related to his ministry, he said there has been a decline in Maoist killings by 22 percent in the affected areas.

"In 2013, 397 people were killed and in 2014, 309 people lost their lives. This is 22 percent less," he said.

"We want to finish Maoist activities. If Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes would be targeted, the government would not forgive them," he said.

The home minister said that it was true that the Maoist-affected areas were the most backward. "I want to appeal to all parties that we should tackle the Maoist problem together, so that we can rid the country of this problem."

"We are carrying out development work and have tried to spruce up communication facilities in these areas. We have put up nearly 2,000 towers in these areas," he added.