Bilaspur/Mahasamund, November 17
Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh today hinted at an internal conspiracy in the May 25 Naxal ambush that eliminated top state Congress leadership and dared the Centre to make the probe report public instead of blaming the BJP for the killings.

“Let the Centre release the Jhiram Ghati Naxal massacre report before the final phase of polling on November 19 in Chhattisgarh. They won’t do so because the report will reveal hundred per cent conspiracy. They won’t make it public,” Raman Singh told The Tribune in an interview as canvassing in the state ended today.

The Congress has been seeking sympathy votes on the issue with party Vice-President Rahul Gandhi yesterday blaming the BJP for the killings and slamming the Raman Singh government for allowing Naxals to spread roots across Chhattisgarh.

But the chief minister today trashed the argument saying, “The National Investigation Agency has completed the probe. If the Congress wants the truth, it should ask the government to make the report public.”

The CM also dismissed the accusations of Naxal spreading roots saying, “The Congress has no policy to combat either the Naxals or terrorists. There has been no progress on the integrated action plan we proposed to tackle the issue. It is they who have in all these years of the Central rule allowed Maoists to gain strength,” he said. There are conspiracy theories galore here about the Naxal ambush which saw state Congress leaders Vidya Charan Shukla, Nand Kumar Patel, among 20 others, killed; questions have been asked about the survival of Congress leader Ajit Jogi’s aide and party legislator from Bastar Kawasi Lakhma in the attack. Asking the Congress why it was not naming Ajit Jogi as its CM candidate when he was himself proclaiming to be one, the CM said the Naxal ambush was being politicised in the absence of any other weighty issues against the BJP in Chhattisgarh. The Congress is hoping to win the majority of 12 Bastar seats on the issue; today it currently has one.

On Rahul’s comparison of BJP leaders with a “bunch of thieves”, Raman Singh said everyone knew who had stolen what.

“Who presided over the 2G, CWG and coals scams? Such remarks will have adverse reactions here,” he said straddling five districts today on a helicopter and halting at eight locations for public meetings. The CM’s resplendent chariot always reached the venue ahead of him.

Raman dismissed undercurrents for change were palpable in parts of Chhattisgarh saying there was no anti incumbency against his two terms. “We will win all 50 seats and improve our tally,” he said, dismissing the rebellion - a first the BJP has witnessed over denial of tickets to stalwarts since 2000 when Chhattisgarh was formed.

Former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee’s niece Karuna Shukla recently quit alleging humiliation; five-time BJP MLA from Jashpur ST seat Ganesh Ram Bhagat is challenging BJP’s candidate in the segment but Raman is "sure of a hat-trick".

At public meetings, though, the CM’s fear of waning support for some BJP candidates is evident.