New Delhi, Oct 02: Union Minister of State for Urban Development Bandaru Dattatraya today said time was not ripe for talks with naxalites and asked political parties to evolve a consensus in stamping out naxalite violence. Expressing serious concern over the attack on Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, he told reporters here that "now is not the time for holding any talks with naxalites. The situation is very bad".
Asked whether he favoured any talks with naxalite groups, Dattatraya said, "I neither favour nor oppose...But the time is not ripe for any round-table discussions." "All the political parties should now cut across the party lines and evolve a consensus on how to stamp out naxalite militancy as this menace has affected not only Andhra Pradesh but other states of the country," he said. Dattatraya said although law and order was the problem of the state government, it was not a party affair only. "All political parties need to sit together and help the government of the day in tackling the militancy," he said. Bureau Report