Shinde meets Sonia, apprises of govt actions in Chhattisgarh

Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde today met Congress President Sonia Gandhi here and apprised her of the actions by the government in connection with May 25 Maoist attack on party leaders in Bastar.
In a clear signal of the party toughening its stand against Naxals, Congress spokesperson Bhakta Charan Das also endorsed Union minister Jairam Ramesh's stand that the Maoists are terrorists.
"I cannot ignore this view of Jairam Ramesh. This view has got some substance. We cannot ignore it," Das, who is also the AICC secretary for Chhattisgarh, told reporters.
Slamming the Maoists, Ramesh, who has generally been against hardline approach towards Maoists had lashed out at them on Tuesday saying "They are terrorists. What else are they? You can't romanticise them. They are spreading fear. They are spreading terror."

Responding to a question that Gandhi had some time back described the Naxals as "misguided youths" and whether it was now a course correction to call them "terrorists", Das said, "With the passage of time their (Maoists') colours have changed."
Reiterating his allegation that Maoists and BJP are closely working in Chhattisgarh to serve each other's purpose, Das questioned that if the state government can make comprehensive security plan for its Vikas Yatra, why can't it do the same for the Parivartan Yatra of Congress.
"Does this not raise a question? 29 persons lost their life because the BJP government in Chhattisgarh failed to discharge its responsibility. They have not been able to answer even a single question raised by us.

"They should answer why this incident happened. This is the moral responsibility of the Chief Minister to quit his post," the Congress spokesperson said.