By IANS,
Kolkata : Accusing the main opposition Trinamool Congress of trying to play down the Maoist menace in West Bengal, Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee Thursday said the need of the hour was for a unified political stand against the Leftwing guerrillas.
“The Trinamool has the tendency to play down the Maoist problem. This is borne out of a deep sense of guilt as the party had tried to use the Maoists for its political gain in Nandigram and Singur,” Bhattacharjee said at the state assembly.
Recalling Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s statement that the Maoists were the greatest danger to the country’s internal security, he said such was the magnitude of the problem that a joint committee comprising representatives of seven rebel-affected states had been formed to deal with it.
“The Maoists do not believe in democracy. But all of us sitting in this house do. So let us take a united stand against them,” the chief minister said while replying to the discussions on the home budget.
The chief minister said 66 Maoists were arrested in 2006, 77 in 2007 and 71 in 2008 in the state.