india

Updated: May 02, 2019 07:44 IST

The Maoist attack in Maharashtra’s Gadchiroli that killed 16 people sparked a row on Wednesday with the opposition seeking Devendra Fadnavis’s resignation, but the chief minister trashed the demand and said his government would try harder to fight the menace.

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar said Fadnavis – he is from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) — should resign owning responsibility for the attack.

“He should have resigned on his own immediately after the incident but it cannot be expected from those ruling Maharashtra today,” he said.

Maharashtra Congress chief Ashok Chavan echoed Pawar. “The attack on our security personnel... is the result of the casual policy of the state against terrorism and Maoists... Fadnavis has lost the moral ground to continue in the post. It is an example of his failure to handle law and order. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced that Naxalism and terrorism were weeded out by demonetisation, but the menace has increased multifold,” he said.

The CM dismissed the demand, and said a befitting reply would be given to the rebels. “We will fight this menace with more and stronger efforts. The morale of security forces will not be affected by this cowardly attack. I have briefed Union home minister Rajnath Singhji...” the CM tweeted.

Sanjay Kumar, acting additional chief secretary (home), said a review would be done to gauge intelligence inputs and the standard operating procedure followed by the forces. “We have ordered an inquiry and a report will be submitted by director general of police Subodh Jaiswal,” he said.

The state government has convened a special cabinet meeting on Tuesday to discuss the attack.