Govt to hold all-party meet on Naxal issue

Government will hold an all-party meeting this week to finalise a strategy to resolve the Maoist problem decisively as the UPA expressed serious concern over the 25 May audacious attack in Bastar that killed 27 people including three prominent Congress leaders.

A decision in this regard was taken at the meeting of the UPA Coordination Committee at Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's residence, which was attended by Congress President Sonia Gandhi, NCP chief Sharad Pawar, NC chief Farooq Abdullah and IUML chief E Ahamed. The refrain in the ruling Congress is that since all parties by and large share a common view on fighting the Naxals, a joint response can be decided to tackle the menace. Terming the Chhattisgarh incident as 'an attack on very foundations of democracy and entire political system', parliamentary affairs minister Kamal Nath said.