Digvijay should raise issues at party forum: Congress

The Congress on Thursday objected to its senior leader Digvijay Singh's remarks, in an article, against Home Minister P Chidambaram' "rigid" stance on tackling Maoist guerrillas, and advised him that the party was an appropriate forum to raise such issues democratically.

The Congress on Thursday objected to its senior leader Digvijay Singh's remarks, in an article, against Home Minister P Chidambaram' "rigid" stance on tackling Maoist guerrillas, and advised him that the party was an appropriate forum to raise such issues democratically.

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"The Congress is a democratic organisation. There may be differences of opinion on one particular issue, but these should be raised only in party forums," Congress spokesperson Shakeel Ahmed told reporters in Parliament House.

He was responding to questions about Digvijay Singh's remarks in a newspaper article in which he said Chidambaram is "extremely rigid once he makes up his mind" and suggested the home minister not opt for a "narrow sectarian view" when tackling Maoist rebels.

Ahmed, however, agreed on Digvijay Singh's suggestion that the government should adopt a "holistic" approach to tackle the left-wing extremism problem, which Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has described as the "greatest threat" to the nation.

"It should be holistic and there should be development activities in tribal areas," Ahmed said.