No differences between Digvijay, PC: Cong

The Congress on Monday denied there were differences between party general secretary Digvijay Singh and Home Minister P. Chidambaram on tackling the Maoist problem.

The Congress on Monday denied there were differences between party general secretary Digvijay Singh and Home Minister P. Chidambaram on tackling the Maoist problem.

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"The Naxal (Maoist) policy of UPA-I (United Progressive Alliance), UPA-II, Chidambaram and Digvijay Singh is the same. There is no difference in approach," Congress spokesman Shakeel Ahmed told reporters here.

He said if there were genuine or perceived grievances of the local population, these should be dealt with and removed.

"However, if people indulge in violence or extortion in the name of Naxalism and adopt the path of violence, no civilised society will support it," he added.

Ahmed's comments came after Digvijay Singh, in an interview to NDTV, said that he stood by what he wrote in a column in Economic Times on April 14 strongly criticising Chidambaram's anti-Maoist strategy.

He said Chidambaram's approach was a "narrow sectarian view, treating it as a purely law and order problem" and that he has been a victim of the home minister's "intellectual arrogance".

The party had advised its leaders to air their differences on contentious issues in the party forum and not through the media.