Banning Maoists not a solution: Lalu

Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad on Tuesday said the Centre's decision to ban Maoists was not a solution and called for an all-party meeting to discuss threadbare the measures to be taken to end the problem.

"Banning the Maoists is neither a solution nor treatment. It is a delicate issue which cannot be resolved with application of force," Prasad told mediapersons in Patna.

It would be better if a permanent solution to the problem was found and for it the Centre should call an all-party meeting to discuss how to resolve the vexed issue, he said.

Noting that the root of the problem was in poverty and non-development, Prasad said the representatives of the misguided Maoist rebels should be invited for a dialogue to end the problem.

Due to the ban the ultras might float a new group and become more intense in their acts of violence to press for their cause, he said.

"The ban is being considered to be an eyewash keeping in mind the Maoists laying siege to Lalgarh in West Bengal. It is a step taken in haste," the former Union railway minister said.

"The issue needs to be politically and cautiously solved," he said. He said it was "unfortunate" that Naxalites had expanded their area of operation in Bihar after the National Democratic Alliance came to power.