By IANS,
Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee Monday said there was no easy solution to the Maoist challenge and the issue has become “very complicated” due to support to the rebels by main opposition Trinamool Congress and others.
Admitting that the killings and terror unleashed by the Leftwing extremists in parts of the state posed a big problem, Bhattacharjee said the government was meeting the challenge through political and administrative actions.
“But the main opposition party, some organisations and individuals are providing direct and indirect encouragement to the guerrillas. This has made the problem more complicated,” the chief minister said in an interview to the Communist Party of India- Marxist’s (CPI-M) mouthpiece “Ganashakti”.
However, he stressed that the Maoist issue was basically a political problem and has to be dealt with politically.
Bhattacharjee said the problem has to be viewed in the all-India context as the rebels were active in seven to eight states.
“Since they have chosen areas which are remote and populated by the poorest sections of the society, we have to take socio-economic programmes to isolate them. On the other hand, we have to activate the police and the administration and fight them politically also,” Bhattacharjee told the Bengali morninger on the occasion of the 33rd anniversary of the Left Front government’s uninterrupted rule in the state.
Bhattacharjee said his government was working on all flanks to combat the ultras. “But it is a long-drawn battle. There is no easy solution”.