Naxal terror cannot vanish overnight: YSR Reddy

New Delhi, Dec 20: Stating that naxal violence cannot vanish overnight, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy today said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was impressed by the steps taken by the state to tackle naxalism and wanted other states to emulate them.

Talking to newspersons after attending the Chief Ministers Conference on internal security here, Dr Reddy said the Prime Minister was very much impressed the way Andhra Pradesh had dealt with the extremism emanating from naxal quarters not just as a law and order issue but as socio-economic and political problem. There had been virtually no fresh recruitments to these forces and the youths had realised the futility of joining the naxal ranks.

As far as terrorism sponsored from across the borders, he said there was a need for greater coordination among the states and the participation of the Centre in sharing intelligence inputs and adopt effective methods to tackle the terror.

He said the state police had made some arrests in connection with Mecca Masjid blasts and innocent persons were not being harassed although the main perpetrators of crime were still at large. The existance of 'terror sleeper cells' were a cause for concern and it should be tackled in coordination with other states and the Centre.

Asked if there were any funds promised at the meeting, the Chief Minister said the Centre had never shied away from providing funds for tackling terror at any point of time.

He said he had also met Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia to explain the measures taken by the state government in addressing the problems agricultural growth, reduction of Transmission and Distribution losses.

Asked for his comments on the Opposition Telugu Desam Party renewing its commitment to revive the populist measures initiated by TDP founder N T Ramarao, Dr Reddy said people were aware of all the facts very well and will not be taken in by such claims.

Populist programmes like providing rice at Rs two a KG were all given up by the TDP government when Chandrababu Naidu was in power, thus he had lost all credibility to claim credit for these programmes.

Infact people were now seeing the Congress government as an inheritor of NTR's legacy because it was introducting these programmes in some form or the other.

Asked which sections of people believed that the Congress party was the inheritor of NTR's legacy, Dr Reddy replied, ''it is NTR's daughter and Union Minister Purandeswari.''

UNI