Yechury accuses Mamata of having nexus with Maoists

New Delhi, Aug 18 (NAI): CPI-M leader Sitaram Yechury today accused Railway Minister and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee of having a nexus with outlawed Maoists.

Talking to reporters here, Yechury said: "The Maoists and the Trinamool have been working together. They are collaborating, so you cannot have any one of them being the mediator to try and ease the violence and tension."

"When they are themselves involved. Then what is the point in it? The question is that whether violence will stop or not and until it is clear there is no point of doing any dialogue," he added.

Earlier in the day, the national media carried a news about Banerjee being a possible mediator for talks between the Central Government and the Maoists.

Banerjee today said she stood by her statement on Maoist leader Cherukuri Rajkumar alias Azad's killing made at a rally in Lalgarh, West Bengal on August 9.

"Whatever I said in Lalgarh, I stick to it. In our democratic set up, we always prefer an amicable settlement and a peaceful solution," she added.

At the rally, Mamata had said: "The way Azad was killed was not right and asked for a probe into his death.

"I feel the way Azad was killed is not correct. Swami Agnivesh had made him agree to hold talks (with the government). What happened was not correct. I feel the process (for holding talks with the Maoists) should start," she added.

Asked about a reported statement by Kishenji that they were willing to accept Banerjee as mediator, She said she had only heard about it in the media.

On Tuesday, Kishenji offered a three-month ceasefire for the sake of peace and for talks.

"President Pratibha Patil and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in their Independence Day speeches, have appealed to the Maoists to abjure violence. We are never for violence but the government has instigated us to take up arms," Kishenji said from an undisclosed destination.

"We are always against terrorism and corruption of any kind...It has been our party's mandate to fight corruption and so we are mobilising people all over the country to ensure that they raise their voice against injustice," he added.

Kishenji also suggested some names of mediators including writer Arundhati Roy, singer and Trinamool Congress MP Kabir Suman, B D Sharma, Gopal Narlekar and Ramanna. (ANI)