Centre-state joint strategy needed to tackle Naxals: Chouhan

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan today said the Centre and the state should formulate a joint strategy to deal with Naxalism in the wake of yesterday's attack in Chhattisgarh.
"The Centre and the state should form a joint strategy to deal with the problem of Naxalism as violence has no place in the democratic system," Chouhan said in a statement.
Congress leader Mahendra Karma and state Congress chief Nand Kumar Patel were among 27 killed while former union minister V C Shukla and 31 others were injured when Maoists ambushed a convoy of party leaders in Chhattisgarh's Bastar district yesterday.

Condemning the attack, Chouhan said it had shaken the entire country.
Recalling his association with Karma and Patel, he said Karma had launched a "peaceful movement" against Naxalism while Patel was a personal friend.
The matter should not be politicised and there should be no allegations and counter-allegations on the issue, he said.
Madhya Pradesh BJP president Narendra Singh Tomar in his statement stressed the need to fight the Left ultras by rising above narrow political gains. He termed the incident as an attack on Indian democratic system.