Describing the gruesome attack on CRPF personnel in Chhattisgarh as a "war against India", BJP on Tuesday said it was completely with the government in the fight against naxals and would support all measures the UPA regime took to combat the menace.
"We stand by the government. We stand by all the forces working against naxalism. This is not a political issue. The nation is first. The country is first," BJP spokesperson Rajiv Pratap Rudy said. He expressed concern that 250 districts were naxal-affected, out of which 90-95 were completely in the grip of the Left-wing extremists.
"The government should take all steps to end naxalism. It should use all the force to fight this battle to the finish. BJP believes this fight should be to the finish and will support all steps taken by the government," Rudy said, adding it was "not a small incident". "This is a war against India. It is not a small incident. This is a war-like situation," Rudy said about the attack that killed 73 CRPF and security personnel.
The Rajya Sabha MP insisted that this was not the time to debate and discuss but to act. "There is no scope for debate or discussion on the subject anymore. There are a lots many people indulging in debate and discussion on the subject. That can be handled later," Rudy said.
He asserted that "the base should be hit hard" as far as naxalism is concerned and said "There is anger in the country over this incident." However, while pledging support to the government, Rudy did not spare Home Minister P Chidambaram for his recent statements on naxalism.
"We can discuss in Parliament later the statements of the Home Minister on Operation Green Hunt and the issue of discussing naxalism with the state governments. The Home Minister wants to use fancy English terms in the fight against naxalism. We can discuss them also in Parliament," Rudy said. He stressed that despite all this BJP was with the government in "whichever way they want to fight this battle".
"We are fighting a war on the international border and there is a war within as well. The country is threatened. This is a major issue which we should all fight collectively," Rudy said. PTI
