BJP says EC should take charge of security in C'garh

In the wake of the Naxal attack in Dantewada district in which a BJP MLA and four others were killed, the party Tuesday demanded that the Election Commission of India take control of security in Chhattisgarh.

MLA Bheema Mandavi and four security personnel were killed as Naxals blew up their vehicle, two days before polling for the first phase of Lok Sabha elections is held in the state.

A delegation of party leaders including state BJP chief Vikram Usendi and former minister Brijmohan Agrawal submitted a letter to Chhattisgarh's Chief Electoral Officer late in the evening.

The letter demanded CBI probe into the attack, and urged the commission to make extensive security arrangements for the April 11 polling in Bastar Lok Sabha constituency by taking control of the entire security set-up.

The letter alleged that the Congress government in the state was hand in glove with Naxals, and added that Tuesday's incident took place due to this "political conspiracy" which the CBI should probe.

As there was fear in the region, the EC should take over all control of the security arrangements, it said.

Expressing deep grief over the incident, former chief minister Raman Singh accused the Congress government of failing to provide security to public representatives.

Mandavi was the lone BJP MLA in the region and therefore he was targeted, Singh claimed.

"During his election campaign, I was told by BJP workers and people that Naxals were saying their rule had come to the region. I could not understand it then, but after this incident I realised why Naxals said so," Singh said, claiming that Bastar had become a safe haven for the ultras.