The outlawed People’s War Group tonight claimed responsibility for the claymore mine blast triggered to assassinate Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu at Tirupati on Wednesday. The organisation stated that their attack against Naidu was ‘‘in tune with the aspirations’’ of the people. A four-page statement in Telugu issued in the name of PWG state secretary Ramakrishna to a few media organisations in Hyderabad said the Naxalites had to attack Naidu as he had ‘‘become a dictator’’ and been pursuing ‘‘anti-people policies’’ in the state for the last few years. The PWG leader accused the Chief Minister of adopting ‘‘Fascist repression’’ against the poor and landless who have been fighting for their livelihood. ‘‘Since Chandrababu Naidu came to power in 1996, as many as 1,400 activists and sympathisers have been killed by the state police,’’ the PWG leader said. The statement, also signed by Telangana special zonal committee secretary Malkapur Bhaskar and Andhra-Orissa border secretary Balakrishna, criticised the Naidu government for unleashing a ‘‘rein of terror’’ against the PWG and its front organisations in the last few years. The PWG leaders asked all those who have been condemning the attack against Naidu in the last two days to explain why they had kept mum when the police had killed scores of innocent people in fake encounters. The outfit described the Naidu government as an ‘‘“agent of World Bank and MNCs’’ by implementing their liberalisation and privatisation agenda. ‘‘These polices had imposed unbearable burden on people,’’ the PWG leaders said.
