Taking responsibility for the deadliest Maoist attack till date, home minister P Chidambaram offered his resignation from the Cabinet to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh who on Friday rejected it.
?The home minister gave it (his resignation) in writing day before yesterday. The Prime Minister rejected it,? a PMO spokesman said, shortly after the minister gave enough hints that he had offered to resign.
Speaking at a CRPF Valour Day function this morning, Chidambaram said ?I have been asked directly or indirectly where the buck stops for what happened in Dantewada??he had come under attack from Left parties for telling West Bengal chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee that ?the buck stops with you? on ending violence in the state.
?I have no hesitation in saying the buck stops at my desk. I accept full responsibility for what happened in Dantewada,? he said. He was also said to have conveyed his intention to quit to Congress president Sonia Gandhi but there was no official word on that.
Chidambaram said that on Wednesday, immediately after his return from Chhattisgarh where 75 CRPF personnel were killed by Maoists, he called on the Prime Minister and gave him in writing that ?I accept full responsibility for what happened?.
He left everyone guessing when he said ?and I think I will stop there, let me not elaborate.?
This led to speculation that Chidambaram may have given his resignation letter to the Prime Minister. He refused to oblige reporters when he declined to say whether he had offered his resignation. But the PMO soon announced that the Prime Minister had rejected Chidambaram?s resignation given in writing.
The Congress said it appreciated Chidambaram owning full responsibility for the Dantewada incident and said his resignation was not accepted by the party high command.
?The statement by the home minister to the Prime Minister owning full moral responsibility does not need to be commented upon. It is appreciated and commended,? party spokesman Abhishek Singhvi told reporters. ?No resignation has been accepted.?
The Congress advocated a two-pronged approach to control the Maoist menace in their areas of influence. Singhvi said the Central government will assist the state government in carrying out anti-Naxal operations and regain territory. The second strategy, according to the spokesman, was to address the socio-economic issues.
?This is to help the state government restore civil administration and start developmental process like building schools, health centres, roads, providing water and electricity etc,? Singhvi said, adding that the Congress believed ?our approach will succeed, must succeed.?