New Delhi:
BJP leaders asked where the buck stopped for the Dantewada Naxal attacks. But the party has said it is not "agreeable to the Home Minister submitting his resignation at this point", after taking responsibility for the carnage. (
Read: 76 security men killed by Naxals in Chhattisgarh)
The BJP said on Friday that resignation would be a retreat that would be a victory for the Maoists and a danger to the nation. "BJP believes that if he does so (resigns), the Maoists will hail it as a victory and we are not prepared to give this credit to the Naxals, those who are indulging in large-scale violence," party spokesman Rajiv Pratap Rudy said.
He said his party does not want the Home Minister to resign, but to shoulder his responsibility of securing the nation. And, Rudy said, make "aspirational" not "confessional" statements.
"We all know that the Home Minister has been entrusted with the nation's security and the responsibility to secure the nation is his. But, he cannot be seen as a man who is retreating from the battlefield, whimpering and shying away...a soldier on a backfoot. We do not expect the Home Minister to act like that. We expect the Home Minister of this country to face boldly the situation which has arisen," the party said. (
Read: Chidambaram on Naxal attack: Something went very wrong)
The Opposition party could not resist a dig at Chidambaram saying the home minister "is a victim of his own idiom." Chidambaram had first raised the question of accountability last week when he said in the context of Naxalsim in Bengal that the buck stopped with the chief minister. After the Dantewada ambush, in which 76 jawans were killed by Naxals, the BJP's Arun Jaitley asked where the buck stopped for that incident.
On Friday, Chidambaram said the buck stopped with him and also that he had offered to quit. (
Read & watch: Chidambaram: Buck stops with me, take full responsibility)
Rudy said, "The BJP is not demanding his resignation. The government needs to do its best and provide logistical support to the war against Naxals." He reiterated the party's support to the Centre on all steps that it took to battle Naxalism.
Also read: Buddha strikes back over Chidambaram's language