Raipur, Feb 8 (PTI) Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday said the country needs to get rid of the "destructive" communist ideology and urged Naxalites to lay down their arms, assuring them a red carpet from the government.

Addressing a conclave held by Organiser Weekly on the book 'Chhattisgarh@25 Shifting The Lens' published by Bharat Prakashan in Nava Raipur, Shah said the Maoist problem cannot be linked to the lack of development or considered merely as a law-and-order issue.

"Left-Wing Extremism is an ideology-driven challenge. People of India should understand the truth of this ideology," he said.

"Wherever communists remained in power, they could not bring development. Communist ideology is an ideology indicative of destruction, and the country is required to get rid of it immediately," he added.

Shah said the communist ideology is no longer present in democratic politics.

"It does not exist in Tripura and Bengal (both of which had several communist governments in the past). In Kerala (currently ruled by the CPM-led LDF), it is surviving to an extent; however, people have started the change from Thiruvananthapuram (referring to BJP winning civic polls in the Kerala capital)," he added.

Shah appealed to Maoists to lay down their arms, saying the government doesn't want to fire a single bullet and will welcome those who surrender "with a red carpet".

Mounting a strident attack, he said the failure to correctly assess the Maoist problem would amount to injustice to future generations.

Some thinkers have spread the misconception the Maoist problem is linked to development and that it is an issue of law and order, Shah said.

He cited development data of the 1980s, when the Maoist problem emerged and spread in Telangana, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, especially Bastar, Andhra Pradesh and Odisha's border districts, to drive home his point.

"At that time, there were more than 100 districts more underdeveloped than Bastar. If the root cause of the problem is development, then why did it (Naxalism) not grow in those 100 districts that were more underdeveloped than Bastar? Some people call it a law-and-order issue. I do not agree with it either," he said.

Before the emergence of the Maoist problem, Bastar's law-and-order statistics were much better than those of many districts of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, Shah pointed out.

"This is not linked to law and order and development. I can debate with anyone and prove with facts and evidence that this is an ideology problem. Those who say there is no ideological problem should explain why this movement was named Maoism. Because within this ideology lies the belief that solutions to problems emerge from the barrel of a gun," he said.

This ideology is not in keeping with the spirit of the Indian Constitution, in which the solution to every problem emerges through debate and democracy.

"They (Communists and Naxals) handed weapons to poor tribal youth and raised the slogan of Red Corridor from Tirupati to Pashupatinath. And for four-and-half decades, they blocked development," he said.

If Bastar was not affected by the Maoist problem, it would have been the most developed district in the country, he said. "After 10 years, look at Bastar. It is going to become the most developed tribal region," Shah asserted.

Shah said 90 per cent of the area influenced by Naxals had become free and the menace would be uprooted completely by March 31.

The Raman Singh government between 2003 and 2018 performed strongly on all fronts, including against Naxalism, and transformed Chhattisgarh from a 'BIMARU' state to a developing one.

"BIMARU' (ailing) was an acronym for Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh to highlight their low socio-economic development.

The Congress government that came to power in the state in 2018 was marked by corruption and it provided protection to Maoist terror, he said.

"I was Union Home Minister during Bhupesh Baghel's tenure. I can say with full responsibility the Congress government sheltered Maoist terror. I fail to understand how any government can patronise an armed group," Shah said.

Emphasising the role of ideology in governance, Shah quoted Mahatma Gandhi to underline that politics without ideology is immoral.

He said political parties without a clear ideology cannot serve the state or nation effectively.

Rejecting the argument that governance is merely an administrative exercise, Shah cited the smooth bifurcation of Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh to form Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Uttarakhand, respectively, during the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led NDA government as examples of ideology-driven governance.

However, the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh to form Telangana under the Congress-led UPA government of Dr Manmohan Singh resulted in prolonged bitterness and unresolved disputes, Shah pointed out.

Shah said Chhattisgarh, on completing 25 years, is emerging as a strong pillar for Viksit Bharat @2047.

Its annual budget has increased 30 times in 25 years, per capita income has risen 17 times, and Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) has registered a 25-fold increase in this period.

"Chhattisgarh has shown remarkable improvement in all 16 indicators used to measure a state's economic condition. 'Viksit Chhattisgarh' is not merely a slogan, but the outcome of 25 years of governance rooted in ideology, vision and good administration," he said.

Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Uttarakhand have proved small states can become major development models if governed with clear ideological framework, Shah said. PTI TKP NSK BNM