Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee today said that Naxals are political elements out to capture power. Underlining the need for development, he said, lack of it may swell the Naxal cadres. He was addressing a seminar in New Delhi. The Finance Minister, however, clarified that his opinion is neither of the government nor of the Congress party but stray thoughts. He said the Maoists do not believe in democratic system which would ultimately prevail. Mr Mukherji added that for development plans in Naxal-hit areas, a conducive environment is required. Rejecting the proposition of existence of a red corridor from Pashupatinath in Nepal to Tirupati, he said, the proposition is difficult to accept and termed it as largelyephemeral. Speaking in the seminar, Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley lashed out at the violenceperpetrated by the Maoists saying a political campaign should be launched against violence in Naxal-hit areas. The BJP leader said that the Central government had been taking the lead in such areas from the point of view of development and security but lamented that a strange debate has been started even within the government whether development was important or security. Mr Jaitley admitted that the areas affected by Maoists haveremained backward saying there are 200 districts affected by it and in 90 of them, the problem is acute. Chhatisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh said the tribals were making maximum sacrifice in this battle and were fed up with the Maoists. He rejected it as Maoist propaganda that multi-national companies were exploiting the mineral wealth of Chhatisgarh, saying none of the MNCs have mined even a ton of iron ore from Bastar in the last 60 years.