Mumbai: Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh on Tuesday urged the Maoists to shun violence and come to the negotiation table.
"We have not stopped the process of dialogue with Naxals. It should go forward. Because the issue can be resolved only through dialogue and not by getting involved in arms race," he told reporters during an interactive session organised by the Rambhau Mhalgi Prabodhini in Uttan near here.
Singh said he is ready for talks with the ultras at any forum.
On if he was getting good support from the Centre, Singh said the state have good coordination with the union government on the issue.
The CM said he would keep the Naxal issue away from politics.
"Yes, former Home Minister P Chidambaram supported us in tackling the Naxal menace. However, I would like to keep Naxalism away from politics. It is the issue engulfing the country and not a particular state," he said.
He said the security forces have been capturing the areas under siege of Naxals.
"We are trying to win the hearts of Naxals. We are taking our Public Distribution System (PDS) there and are trying to rebuild the bridges which were destroyed by them," the chief minister claimed.
"Even in the worst Naxal-affected areas, PDS is not an issue," he said.
He called upon the need to replicate the success model of PDS to overcome the challenge of food security across the country.
"The outcome of the state government`s initiative in food and nutritional security has been no hunger deaths or farmers suicides," he said.
PTI
