Digvijay Singh slams PC's anti-Maoist strategy

New Delhi: The gag order by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to the ministers and Congress leaders not to speak on the Maoist issue has not stopped Congress General Secretary Digvijay Singh from launching a scathing attack on Union Home Minister P Chidambaram and his strategy to tackle the rebels.

In a signed article in The Economic Times on Wednesday Singh called Chidambaram extremely rigid and intellectually arrogant.

"The Home Minister must stop treating this as a law and order issue and tackle the tribals' problems. Chidambaram is extremely rigid once he makes up his mind. I have been a victim of his (Chidambaram's) intellectual arrogance many times. I have differed with his strategy that does not take into consideration the people living in the affected area. Why is Chidambaram taking flak when the Chief Minister (Raman Singh) is answerable," wrote Singh in the article about the attack on a CRPF team in Dantewada on April 6 in which 76 security personnel were killed.

However, Congress distanced itself from Singh's public criticism of Chidambaram's anti-Maoist strategy.

"Congress is a democratic party. Every one has a right to express his or her views but such views should be expressed within the party forums only," AICC General Secretary in-charge and media department chief Janardan Dwivedi said.

The Prime Minister had on Monday written a letter to the Council of Ministers directing them to speak in one voice and desist from commenting on issue not directly related to their ministries.

He made it clear that Union Home Minister P Chidambaram was the only one authorised to deal with issues related to internal security.

The letter had been addressed to the entire Council of Ministers including state ministers. Manmohan's latter came after some Cabinet colleagues including Railways Minister Mamata Banerjee and Union minister for food processing Subodh Kant Sahay commented on the Dantewada massacre.

Mamata alleged that Operation Green Hunt was being conducted just to help the Left Front regain its lost ground in the left wing extremism-affected areas.

Sahay had said that states were to blame for the growing Maoist violence.