The Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday took exception to the Congress politicising the Saturday’s Maoist attack on a Congress motorcade at Bastar in Chhattisgarh which claimed 24 lives.

Referring to the statements made by Congress, BJP general secretary Rajiv Pratap Rudy told a press conference here, that it was unfortunate that statements with political implications were being made at a time of grief and challenge. ““This is not the time for a blame game.”

Mr. Rudy said that the Naxal problem was a trans-boundary issue which needed a national policy. However, attempts by Home Minister P. Chidambaram to finalise a national policy framework to fight naxalism had been thwarted by discord over it in the Congress. “The Congress should introspect on this.”

Though State governments would have faltered over the years in checking the Maoist menace, it was also the responsibility of the Centre to address the trans-border issue. Expressing solidarity with those fighting the naxalites, Mr. Rudy said that the BJP was saddened and deeply concerned about the killing of Congress leaders in Chhattisgarh.

Maoists are not enemies of the BJP or the Congress. But they loathe democracy and democracy should be protected. It should also be examined why democracy is not functional in certain areas. The flaws of the political system, governance and service delivery should be discussed.

Asked about the BJP not saying much on IPL scam, Mr. Rudy said that corruption and cheating in cricket was very unfortunate. However, that should not be allowed to overshadow the larger issue of corruption under the Union government.