Congress had won won in the assembly polls barely five months ago in the same three states -- Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan.
Amid controversy over a recent Naxal encounter in Chhattisgarh, Chief Minister Raman Singh on Tuesday urged political parties not to politicise the issue. "The Bijapur encounter was not a planned encounter. Such issues should not be politicised," Singh told reporters after meeting Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
As the hostage crisis involving abducted Sukma Collector Alex Paul Menon entered the eighth day on Saturday, mediators from the rebel side left for Tadmetla forests apparently to brief Maoists on talks they had with the Chhattisgarh government on their demands for releasing the IAS officer. N Baijendra Kumar, principal secretary to Chief Minister Raman Singh, told PTI that the mediators, who have held two rounds of talks with the government-appointed interlocutors.
The Chhattisgarh government on Wednesday appealed to the Maoists for the extension of their deadline for the release of Sukma district collector Alex Paul Menon, who was abducted last Saturday.
Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh on Saturday kicked up a controversy when he blamed "girlfriends, bikes and mobile phones" for the rising cases of road accidents in the state. Speaking at a seminar on road safety at a medical institute, he expressed concern over the rising number of youth dying in road mishaps.
Congress's Devti Karma won the bypoll for the seat, reserved for Scheduled Tribes, by a margin of 11,192 votes, a poll official said.
An office bearer of the Chhattisgarh Youth Congress has alleged the local police had beaten him up for asking a question to Chief Minister Raman Singh at a farmers' meeting held in Raipur on October 7.
Our policies on hostage crises have been marked by significant tentativeness and not surprisingly, these have been exploited by the extremists, points out Bibhu Prasad Routray
Former bureaucrat Nirmala Buch, who had mediated on behalf of Chhattisgarh government with Maoists for the release of Sukma district collector Alex Paul Menon, on Saturday said the Raman Singh government may free Naxalites in the coming days and has "no hidden agenda" in doing so.
He said he would possibly go to Sukma on Wednesday.
Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh on Tuesday urged Maoists to shun violence and come to the negotiation table. "We have not stopped the process of dialogue with Naxals. It should go forward because the issue can be resolved only through dialogue and not by getting involved in an arms ace," he told reporters.
Mediators on Friday failed to achieve any breakthrough to secure the release of abducted Sukma district collector Alex Paul Menon after the second round of talks even as Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh asserted that the demands of the Maoists would be considered only "within the legal framework".
Favouring a coordinated strategy at the national level, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh on Monday said that terrorism and naxalism have to be dealt with tough hands.
Tandon breathed his last at the state-run Dr B R Ambedkar Memorial Hospital where he was rushed on Tuesday morning after he complained of uneasiness, the governor's secretary, Surendra Kumar Jasiwal said.
In the wake of the 12-day hostage crises that ended after the release of Sukma Collector Alex Paul Menon, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh on Friday sought a national policy to deal with such situations. "There has to be a national policy to deal with hostage crises. I will ask Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in tomorrow's meeting to call all chief ministers to discuss it. There is a need to discuss it briefly," Singh told reporters.
Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh on Monday said that there was some progress in the talks with Maoists for the release of abducted Sukma collector Alex Paul Menon, with both sides agreeing on some points.
With the Maoists forwarding their demands in exchange for the release of Sukma District Collector Alex Paul Menon, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh has reportedly convened a high-level meeting to decide on the future course of action. The Chhattisgarh government has set up a cabinet sub-committee to deal with the situation arising out of Menon's abduction by the Maoists.
The audio tape suggested financial inducement behind the Congress candidate withdrawing from fray in an assembly bypoll last year.
Ashok Chand, deputy comssioner, Crime Branch, told rediff.com on Saturday evening that Reoti Raman Singh, another senior leader of Samajvadi party would be questioned by sleuths at Chanakyapuri Police station.
The Apex court had in its order slammed the Chhattisgarh government for using tribals as Special Police Officers in its Salwa Judum counter-insurgency operation against the Maoists. It also asked the central government to ensure that its finances are not used for funding SPOs.
After opposing Narendra Modi's anointment as Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate, a mellowed L K Advani on Monday praised him for development in Gujarat and hoped that all good tasks undertaken by party governments in states will be rolled out across the country.
Desperate times need desperate actions, and the BJP's only option is to enforce legislation to build a Ram mandir, says Sunil Sethi.
Samajwadi Party MP Rewati Raman Singh on Monday appeared before Delhi Police for questioning in connection with the 2008 cash-for-vote scam, the fourth person to be quizzed in the past 10 days after the Supreme Court came down heavily on investigators for carrying out a shoddy probe.
Rajya Sabha member Amar Singh on Friday appeared before the Delhi Police for questioning in the cash-for-vote scam.
The Delhi high court on Monday stayed a trial court order issuing summons to Samajwadi Party member of Parliament Rewati Raman Singh to appear as an accused in 2008 cash-for-votes scam case.
"I have heard about the Supreme Court's order and the state respects it. We are consulting legal experts on this issue," Chief Minister Raman Singh told reporters in Raipur. To a query, he said the Salwa Judum was a "self-movement" and not started by the government. Home Minister Nanki Ram Kanwar too echoed Singh's sentiments and said further action cannot be taken without legal advice
As an outrage over transporting the bodies of four slain policemen in a garbage truck erupted, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh on Wednesday claimed the truck was 'clean' and that no disrespect was shown to them.
Chhattisgarh government will set up an armed battalion of women to deal with the law and order situation and deploy it in the naxal-infested areas if needed.
Noted social activist Swami Agnivesh on Saturday appealed to the Chhattisgarh government to initiate talks to solve the problem of Naxalism. The tribal-dominated state is home to a large number of Naxals and is considered their bastion. The chief minister should come forward to solve this decades-old problem through dialogue, he said at a press conference in Raipur in the presence of Chief Minister Raman Singh.
Hitting back at Digvijay Singh for his 'buck stops with the chief minister' remark following the massacre of security forces in Dantewada, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh on Monday described the Congress general secretary as 'intellectually dishonest' and blamed him for the rise in Maoist menace in the state.I have no hesitation in saying that Digvijay Singh is intellectually dishonest for a deliberate, motivated and deceitful article, Raman Singh said in a statement.
Minister Rajesh Munat has filed a complaint against state Congress chief Bhupesh Baghel and senior journalist Vinod Verma for allegedly tarnishing his image through a "fake" sex CD.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday night condemned the Naxal strike in Chhattisgarh in which 13 CRPF peronnel were killed and said words are not enough to deplore the "brutal" and "inhuman" attack by "anti-national elements."
Marandi returned to the BJP after 14 years and the party now wants him to lead the state unit. But a generation of new leaders isn't familiar with him, explains Radhika Ramaseshan.
A day after 27 Central Reserve Police Force personnel were killed in a Naxal ambush in Chhattisgarh's Narayanpur district, Chief Minister Raman Singh called an emergency meeting to discuss anti-naxal strategies on Wednesday.
Union Home Minister, P Chidambaram said on Friday that the progress of the on-going operation against the Maoists in the Naxal-hit states was "satisfactory"."The joint operation against the Naxalites is few weeks old and the progress has been satisfactory," Chidambaram told media-persons after a high-level meeting convened in Raipur to review the operation.
A Bharatiya Janata Party leader was on Wednesday shot dead by Maoists in Chhattisgarh's Dantewada district, police said.
Emphasising that Naxalism is not the concern of a single state, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh on Wednesday said a concerted national strategy needs to be drawn up to combat the menace. "The country must now rise above the constriction that this (Naxal problem) is the concern of any single state. We have been advocating a concerted national strategy to combat it," he said while addressing the meeting of chief ministers of Naxal-affected states.
Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and major political parties welcomed any dialogue with Naxals provided they abjure violence. Patnaik, whose state has faced Naxal attacks including on police personnel, said "Repeatedly I have said they should shun violence. Then a dialogue is possible."
Concerned over spurt in Naxal violence, Union Home Secretary Gopal K Pillai will arrive in Raipur on Monday on a two-day visit to Chhattisgarh during which he will take stock of the security situation, redeployment of paramilitary forces and visit some worst Maoist-hit areas.
A guard of honour was on Wednesday given to the 26 Central Reserve Police Force jawans who were killed in a Naxal attack in Chhattisgarh's Naryanpur district.
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