By IANS,
New Delhi: Echoing the government line in the fight against Maoists, the Congress Friday did not rule out the possibility using air power to deal with Left-wing ultras.
“As of now, there is no mandate (for security forces). But nothing can be ruled out,” Congress spokesman Abhshek Manu Singhvi said.
He said the issue can be “revisited” if there was a need for it.
Home Minister P. Chidambaram had said Wednesday that though the government had refrained from using air power against Maoists but the situation could change.
On Tuesday, in one of the most daring attacks in the four-decade-old Left-wing insurgency, Maoists massacred 76 security personnel in the forests of Dantewada in Chhattisgarh.
The minister said there was no mandate to use the air force or any aircraft at present but if necessary, the government will revisit the mandate to make some changes.
Congress sources said Chidambaram, whose offer to resign Friday was rejected by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, had also spoken to Congress president Sonia Gandhi.
The party has officially backed Chidambaram in his strategy to fight Maoists but a section of leaders feels that the home minister could have been more circumspect in some of his statements.
They said there was no need for Chidambaram to make remarks during his visit to West Bengal last week that “buck should stop at chief minister’s table”. The remark led to an angry riposte from state Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee.
A party leader, not wishing to be named, also said that repeated pronouncements about the government’s ability to win its battle against Maoists in two-three years could provoke the ultras to unleash violence in a bid to prove their strength.