Offering carrot and stick, the Centre on Tuesday in Kolkata said it was ready to hold talks with the Maoists if they "halt" violence after a meeting of chief ministers of eastern states skipped by Bihar's Nitish Kumar and Jharkhand's Sibu Soren.
'We are not asking you do so anything more. If you halt violence we are prepared to talk to you on any matter that is of concern. But the condition is that you must halt violence," Chidamabaram said, appealing to Maoists to abjure violence.
"Unfortunately, past appeals have been spurned, therefore we are obliged to continue operations. As long naxals continue violence, operations will continue," he told a press conference after a 2-hour meeting here with chief ministers, deputy chief ministers and top officials of four eastern states.
Kumar told reporters in Patna that he could not be away from the state capital for long and today is the scheduled day for the state cabinet to meet. Soren, who had cited illness for not attending the meeting, had deputed his two deputy chief ministers.
Against the backdrop of reports that Kumar kept away at the instance of Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee, Chidambaram sought to playdown his absence.
He said Kumar had told him in Delhi on Sunday that he had some prior commitment and that he may not be able to attend the Kolkata meeting. "His senior officials are here. Either I can go to Patna or he can go to Delhi (to discuss Maoist issues). That is not an issue," Chidambaram said. PTI
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