Soren U-turn on Naxals: Will do as Centre says

Corroborating this,DGP Neyaz Ahmad and Secretary Home J B Tubid said in a joint press conference: The operations against the rebels have been going on for long. There is nothing like starting or calling it off. It is still on. The security forces went on patrolling two days back in Gumla.

Soon after taking oath as Chief Minister on December 30,Soren had said that the Maoists were his brothers and sisters and offered to hold talks with them. In fact,his JMM had fielded three former Maoists in the elections,one of whom,Poulus Surin,was elected. After Soren managed to wrest Home Affairs from his ally,the All Jharkhand Students Union,the offensive against the Maoists came to a halt with even short and long-term patrolling being withdrawn as reported by The Indian Express on January 21.

Sorens flip-flop has given the Congress an issue with the party accusing the BJP of having double standards on the issue. AICC spokesman Manish Tewari underlined that the action of one state would have serious implications in other states. He accused the BJP of having played a role in Jharkhand governments decision to adopt a soft approach to Naxalites as Deputy Chief Minister Raguvar Das,who belongs to the BJP,was part of the state governments decision making process.

Embarrassed by ally Sorens actions,BJP spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad was forced to reiterate its position that there could not be any talks with the Naxalites unless they shunned violence. He reminded the Congress that one of its chief ministers,the late Y S Rajasekhar Reddy in Andhra Pradesh,had halted the anti-Naxalite operation and entered into talks with them.

With ENS,New Delhi