Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today sought broader national consensus between the Centre, States and political parties in efforts to tackle naxal violence.

Referring to the recent naxal attack on a political rally in Chhattisgarh that claimed the lives of 30 people, Dr. Singh affirmed that such violence has no place in a democracy.

Speaking at the Chief Ministers meeting on internal security at Vigyan Bhavan in New Delhi this morning, Dr. Singh said, an all-party meeting has been called on the 10th of this month seeking broader consensus among political parties on the strategy to tackle the naxalite challenge.

The Prime Minister asked the Centre and State governments to come up with concrete measures to deal with naxal violence and prevent violent incidents like the attack in Chattisgarh.

Dr. Singh said, the time has now come to view the challenges of terrorism, communal violence and Left Wing Extremism in a holistic manner. He called for complete objectivity in our approach to these issues and to act in the national interest, rising above narrow political and ideological divides.

Dr. Singh appealed to all political parties and all sections of society to work together to find effective ways and means of meeting these grave challenges.

Dr. Singh said the two pronged strategy of dealing firmly with violence while promoting development in naxal affected areas need to be further strengthened.

Stongly condemning the mindless and barbaric naxal attack on political leaders, workers and innocent civilians Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde read out the Chief Minister’s resolution to counter Naxal activities.

Terming the Naxal attack as an attack on democracy, the resolution strongly disagreed with the ideology of the maoists. It appealed to the youth of the naxal affected states to give up violence and pursue their goals through legitimate and democratic means.