Congress on Wednesday sought to disapprove of senior party leader Digvijay Singh publicly expressing his differences with Home Minister P. Chidambaram on the issue of tackling Naxalites saying such views should be expressed only in party forums.
“Congress is a democratic party. Every one has a right to express his or her views but such views should be expressed within the party forums only,” AICC general secretary in-charge and media department chief Janardan Dwivedi said.
His remarks came in response to queries about AICC general secretary in-charge for Uttar Pradesh Digvijay Singh’s article in a newspaper saying he differed with the Home Minister over treating the Naxalite issue as a law and order problem and called for a rethink of the counter-Maoist strategy.
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“In this case (regarding Maoists), I have differed with his (Mr. Chidambaram’s) strategy that does not take into consideration the people living in the affected area, who ultimately matter. He is treating it purely as a law and order problem without taking into consideration the issues that affect the tribals,” Mr. Singh has said.
Mr. Singh, in whose tenure as Chief Minister the Maoist-affected Chhattisgarh was carved out of Madhya Pradesh, said, “When I raised these issues with him (Mr. Chidambaram), he said it was not his responsibility.”
Mr. Singh said he has known Mr. Chidambaram since 1985 when he and the Home Minister were both elected to Parliament.
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“He is extremely intelligent, articulate, committed and a sincere politician — but extremely rigid once he makes up his mind. I have been a victim of his intellectual arrogance many times, but we still are good friends,” he said.